Three Musketeers
The Past, Present, and Future
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness
Mind, Body, and Spirit
Chips, queso, and margaritas
You probably have your favorite ‘set of threes’ (Psst…we do too!)
People are drawn to sets of threes. It is the symbol of unity– a strand of three cord is not easily broken, –the symbol of balance–a stool with three legs, and the symbol of harmony–a color triad. The number three is found basically everywhere– in language, spirituality, culture, psychology, mathematics, and magic.
The number three’s significance transcends mere numerics; it resonates with our understanding of the world and ourselves.
The magic of three lies in its simplicity and power. Or as we like to say, focusing on just three things allows you to find the simplistic essentials or essential simplicity. It’s not just because we are easily distracted, and three things is all you can really hope to remember (although that is true too!)
Simplicity and essentials really matter, especially when things are hard, and by hard, I mean when the world gets so complicated that you don’t know which way to look. That’s when you need a pattern. You need a plan. You need a purpose. Pattern, plan, purpose–just three things. Or you need someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for—-just three things. Or you need your health, your mission, and your people—just three things.
And you aren’t convinced yet, remember there is an entire punctuation mark that exists solely because of sets of three things—the Oxford Comma. Ironically, or maybe not at all, the purpose of the oxford comma is three-fold 1) it provides clarity by separating three different words, 2) it organizes the sentence and makes it calmer, and 3) it keeps you immersed in the story for consistency.
Clarity, calm, consistency—three things I could definitely use more of.
Three Things is the number of simplistic possibilities. You don’t have to do it all. You don’t have to understand it all—just do the next three things.
