The Golden Rule

Treat others how you wish to be treated. This concept has been swirling around my head a lot lately. This is, after all, the GOLDEN RULE, right?

This ‘Golden Rule’ goes far beyond simply being nice to people, or going out of your way to be helpful to those who find themselves in need. Of course, you would want others to help you out if you happen to find yourself in a pinch. I have also found that there are many ways to follow this ‘rule’ that may go completely unnoticed by others. Treating others the way you wish to be treated is simply about adjusting your views and attitudes.

Say what? Think about it. Instead of just treating others the way you would want to be treated, think about others the way you would want others to think about you. Honestly feel about others the way you would want others to feel about you. Speak to others the way you would want to be spoken to or spoken of. Respect others the way you would want to be respected in return.

When you treat others with the kind of respect that you would like to be treated with, you are helping to give them the opportunity to be the best possible person they can. If you treat others how you would want to be treated, it will be very apparent that people will like being around you and will be more likely to help you out in any situation, since they know that you would do the same for them. However, this is NOT always easy, especially when you are continually taken advantage of, taken for granted.

The 'rule' of treating others as you would want to be treated if you were in their shoes, will ultimately lead to your own happiness. It isn’t difficult to implement the ‘Golden Rule’ in your interactions with other people. Begin by helping your neighbors, treating your family with kindness, go the extra mile for your co-workers, or help a stranger who can never repay you. All those actions will undoubtedly be good for the people you help and are kind to, BUT you’ll also notice something else: People will start to treat you better too, most assuredly. However, it goes far beyond that. You will soon find a growing sense of satisfaction in yourself, a more profound belief in yourself, a confident knowledge that you are a good person and an undoubted trust in yourself. It really is as simple as it sounds.

Lately, I’ve seen how this idea has fallen by the wayside. People are so entitled anymore. They feel as though the world (and perhaps everyone in it) owes them. Owes them what? People always tend to see the worst in others without seeing it in themselves, first. By nature, people want to be treated with respect, but many times they themselves are not very respectful to others. We’ve all encountered those people in our lives. The concept: to treat others the way you expect others to treat you, may be one of the 'golden rules' in life, but many people choose to ignore this simple idea. Basically what it comes down to is this: people should not expect to be treated any different than the way they treat people themselves.

People will give you what you give to them, so why expect anything different? If you find yourself NOT liking the way that you have been treated lately, step back and rethink the way you are treating others, there may be a connection between the two.

Until next time….Think Thankfully