Treat others, the way you would want to be treated!
This is a post about how The Golden Rule is easy to talk about, hard to think about, and harder to do!
You could read the post.
Or
You could put it into action, right now, for one person!
Easy to talk about…
At face value the Golden Rule is a great concept, although I’m not sure how it became golden or a rule.
Most world religions have a form of the rule, although its best known in the west through Jesus words, where he indicates that the essence of the bible is to live this way.
You’ll hear it talked about with kids, in schools, at churches, in communities and even in the business world.
And it’s easy to talk about, probably because we would all like people to treat us that way.
Hard to think about…
Pause and consider these questions:
Consider that challenge your friend is going through right now. If you were that friend, how would you want to be treated by the real you?
Put yourself in the shoes that person who is ‘unjustifiably’ grumpy with you. If you were that person, with all their feelings, beliefs and experiences. How would you want to be treated by the real you?
Ponder being a homeless person on the streets. How would you want to be treated by the real you?
Think about how it would feel to be a parent with a starving child in the third world. How would you want to be treated by the real you?
Harder to do…
In all honesty, my answers to those questions are often not reflected in my actions.
Which could be disheartening, because I can’t help everyone in the world.
But I can help one!
And I can do that today.
∴
Imagine a world were even 10% of people truly completely lived the Golden Rule.
Or imagine working in an organisation where everyone, always lived the Golden Rule first and foremost. (Hint to my coHired & Agoge teams this is essence of ‘love people’)
Or imagine our own life, how radically different would it be if we chose to treat others, the way we want to be treated.
What if treating others, the way we would want to be treated,
stopped being some abstract golden rule,
and instead became our life mantra?
Around our house we have duties that everyone has to do each week on rotation as a part of being in the family. Then there are the tasks like mowing the lawns which I can do for free, or the kids can do for money.
Last week I was out running with Jay tagging along on his bike. As I ran, a seagull became increasingly disturbed with my presence and finally started dive bombing me. We sought shelter under some trees and, once the bird was over it, we carried on.
‘Kinstugi’ is the Japanese word that describes the art of repairing broken ceramics with gold.
