The photo below is a photo of my official jersey for my football team. We ain’t as good as Man U or Man City, but it’s a team built out of friends having fun, where results come in second after ‘a good run around the field’. So far however, we have been impressive with 2 draws and one defeat, out of 3 games.
Some way wonder, why ‘4’? Isn’t the number 4 associated to death due to it sounding homonym the word ‘death’ in some cultures? Well, yeah. That’s true. I can imagine perfectly how some Chinese or Vietnamese guy going ‘Cyril s?’ a couple of times while on the field, but I’m fine with it. I guess it’s good for me as it trains me to be unperturbed by people saying such words, well… in way =)
But aside for that, there’s so much to the number four. My findings on Wikipedia found that the number four is associated with a lot of good things, be it religiously or scientifically, but really, that was actually beyond the reason why I opted for the number four.
The whole reason WHY I CHOOSE number four as my jersey number is because many people fear superstition so much that they avoid the number. They aren’t Chinese, and they are modern, but yet, in things like this, they are somewhat traditionalist. In fact, a few years back, I had a friend whom insisted that he didn’t want the number 4 jersey just because it was associated to death. I mean, wearing a number doesn’t mean that you’d actually die. (here I go digressing)
But anyway, my point is simple. I choose the number because I am not choosy. In football, number seven is always associated to ‘great’ players, and I know I’m not ‘great’ in football. It would be a shame on myself to get the number, and have no skills. The same goes to number 8, 9, 10, 11 and certain numbers which are always associated with strikers with great ability, which is not me at all. (again digressing)
The number four is just a number, but it’s also a number which is not really wanted by many due to it’s general association with death. I feel that we shouldn’t generalize something, just like we tend to generalize and associate number 4 with death. Taken in another angle, the number 4 represents some very positive things, like the Four Noble Truths in Buddism, the four Bibles in Christianity, and of course the symbolic meanings as said below:
The symbolic meanings of the number four are linked to those of the cross and the square. “Almost from prehistoric times, the number four was employed to signify what was solid, what could be touched and felt. Its relationship to the cross (four points) made it an outstanding symbol of wholeness and universality, a symbol which drew all to itself” – Wikipedia
Well, if that doesn’t work for you then try this perhaps.