“Four on the floor.” As a first-grade teacher, I reminded students hundreds of times, maybe thousands. Why? Safety, of course. As parents and teachers we understand the dangers involved just as drivers know to keep four tires on the road.
And when we are stressed, we go to the four comfort food groups—chocolate, caffeine, pasta, and pastry. Right?
Four is an important number.
There’s another FOUR that we all share—four needs: psychological/spiritual/physical/social A very basic explanation of these four:
Psychological – our thoughts and feelings and behavior
Spiritual – how we make meaning of things and how we experience the divine and find hope. For Christians, it is the belief in God the creator, His Son, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
Physical – our body’s health and anatomy
Social – how we function in our culture and in relationships
Even more important than the four legs of a chair or four tires or even chocolate (Did I say that out loud?) are these four needs.
As much as we’d like to pick and choose, or deny or debate, when one need is not being met or is met in an unhealthy way, life is out of balance—for us and for our children.
