Rules Rules Rules
Anyone else a NCIS fan? We all know Gibbs Rules – a code he lives his life by and his team follows him Rule 3 – Don’t believe what you’re told. Double check. Spiritualism teaches us to question what is presented to us and allows us to come to these truths on our own.
I have been thinking about Principle 6 lately.
We believe that the highest morality is contained in the Golden Rule:
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Not being the kind of person that takes anything at face value, I started to wonder about this rule. If you think about it it is rather self centered. Treat everyone as you would like to be treated. What if they don’t agree? Off to Google I went and discovered that it really is a part of a set of “Rules”.
Rule of Iron – Is meant to be both indisputable and unavoidable
- Or as I see it the “my way or the highway” rule
Bronze Rule – If they are not bothering you; don’t bother them
- Or the “mind your own business” rule
Silver Rule – Do NOT do unto to others as you would not have them do unto you
- Or the “passively afraid to offend” rule
Platinum Rule – Do unto others as they would want done
- Or the “why haven’t we heard of this one before ” rule
Then I started to see that just like in life nothing is black and white. There are many areas of gray. Anyone who is a parent can relate to the implementation of the Iron rule with young children. These are mainly guidelines on how to live and relate to others.
Nowhere in these rules does it say “he who has all the gold, makes the rules” or “do unto others, then split”. We have a responsibility to each other and humanity as a whole to take care of each other, respect and love one another.
How do we apply these rules in our daily lives? We clearly cannot live our lives strictly in one mode. There has to be a balance. Clearly something we all should take some time and think about. So these rules are interchangeable, there is a time and a place for each of them. Your significant other you may use the Platinum rule more than with a complete stranger and as a parent I have had to institute the Iron rule more than one time.
Sometimes rules become ridiculous, because some people are not taught common sense anymore. Just look at some of the laws that have been enacted over the years. It is when you can discern when a rule is needed to be tossed out the window… Just ask George about my n/2 rule when it came to dating.
Well this is my wisdom for the day… Think about the rules you have created and how they may need modification because they no longer serve you well.
