Something to Consider

Having taught world religions and philosophy for so many years I have always been interested in how people seem attracted to the use of special numbers. Consider, seven occurs often, forty is frequently used to consider indeterminate time. Five is another figure that appears and sometimes in the form of two lots of five coming to ten. The Ten Commandments and then the Beatitudes. Islam has its, Five Pillars and Sikhism, has, The Five Ks.


None of these numbers are used accidentally, they are significant and so often have deeper and underlying messages.

I was reminded yesterday of two that I have used frequently throughout my life. Both have the number five. Forgive me if I am boring, and if I am please say. But I feel an urge today to share them with you. Maybe you might like In a quite moment to consider them and keep or discard.

The first is, Five Bad and Five Good. I like to ask myself to stop for a moment and list the five worst things about me. If they are still the same five things as the last time I did this exercise I have not progressed at all. Then I will attempt to list the five best things about me.

I always found that it was easier to say five bad than it was five good. I have had to work fairly hard at being able to do both.

The other five I would love to share with you I think you might have come across. The Five Balls of Life. They are, Work, Family, Health, Friends and Integrity. We all the time try to keep these balls in the air. What a difference it made to learn that the ball, Work, was a rubber ball. Drop it and it bounced back. The other four are made of glass and if dropped so easily become damaged or maybe even smashed.

Once we really understand that we can get balance into our lives and the Five Good Five Bad become so much more meaningful.

I have just read that all again and am tempted to change the blog so will not be at all surprised if the comments today start with an instruction to lighten up.

This Blog is linked to my other  Summer Days and Holidays