I'm grateful for numbers. Numbers help me to describe, measure, predict and design many aspects of my world. The numerical measure of time reminds me to make the most out of the limited time I have in this life. I've always enjoyed mathematics and working with numbers. Numeracy doesn't come easy to everyone so I am grateful of my ability to understand and use numbers.
Prior to this moment, I hadn't thought much about how numbers originated. I know they are called Arabic numbers so assume they were crafted by ancient scholars in the middle east but that was about it. Further research revealed that the number system we use originated around 700 AD when Indian mathematician Brahmagupta developed rules to compute with zero which allowed description of numbers greater than ten, and less than one. The system was further developed by mathematicians in the middle east. A mathematician named Al Khawarizmi developed the numeric symbols we recognize by crafting them with the same number of angles in the symbol as in the number itself - 1 has one angle, 2 has two angles and so on (see the image above). Not true of modern fonts and methods of writing numbers but an interesting tidbit of numerical history.
Numbers are fascinating. I'm grateful for the ability to understand and work with them.
Image Source: https://www.lexiophiles.com/english/what-is-the-origin-of-numbers