Is your “Golden Rule” tarnished?

Are you living your life by the “Golden Rule” and finding it difficult to find your joy? I promise to shed some light on why that could be in this lesson.



The “Golden Rule” as defined by what I remember it, is “Treat others the way you would like to be treated.” A phrase that has lasted thousands of years because it is universally accepted as the basis for civility. Of course you want to be treated as you would like, in theory, but let me guide you through a story that may have you seeing things a little differently.

Once, there was a boy who wanted to become a man. He spent his whole childhood gaining knowledge about anything and everything he could in his little world, and tried very hard to prepare himself for manhood. One day, after years of preparation, he found himself looking in the mirror and sure enough, he looked like a man! He was pleased. He’d made it. Soon, people would start looking up to him, telling him how amazing of a man he is, and he would command the respect he deserved.

He soon started out on his own, and found himself at a university to complete his training. He no longer had his parents to tell him what to do, so he decided to do what he liked. He didn’t like studying, so he didn’t do it anymore. He passed his classes okay enough, thanks to his clever ways and good memory. However, he never really learned more than the minimum of the potential knowledge he could have known. He met young women there, and did okay enough in earning their attention, but he never reached that level of togetherness with any that he so longed for.

After his studies were over, he found a suitable mate for a man to have, and felt the urge for more manly duties. The military promised to make a “man” out of him, so he joined and soon found “manhood” to be exhausting and tough on the senses. A couple of years of that was enough, and the boy found himself still chasing manhood. After all of this, he still didn’t really consider himself a “man”.

Years went by and soon his mate really wanted a man, and not a boy chasing manhood. After she left, he started to realize that he had been treating her like he WANTED to be treated: Like a boy chasing manhood. She was a woman, not a girl, and women want men that are chasing them, not their manhood.

The boy, as you probably figured already, was me. I spent the majority of my life chasing a dream, and I was showing everyone in my path that they could treat me just like I was treating myself: Like a boy chasing manhood. If you are looking for the respect you deserve, there are 3 things I would recommend for you to start changing TODAY:

1. Define what it is you really want out of life. There are so many of us out there spinning around in circles, wasting time and energy on the things we do not want, and it all stems from not knowing what we want in the first place. If you REALLY want to command respect, make a declaration ON PAPER of what you want out of your life. Don’t ask anyone’s opinion but your own, because that is the only one that matters on this subject. Figure it out!

2. Start on the journey to what you want NOW! Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said “Take the fist step. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” I, like many others, find this to be the truth. You need to take action, and you need to do it NOW! Get an action plan down on paper. Get on the internet and research what others are doing that have similar goals. Get a Life Coach. Get on the ball and get it rolling now with enthusiasm. Maybe your first step is getting enthusiasm? Whatever the case, take that first step NOW!

3. Do any and every thing you can to focus on your goal. You have to keep your goal in mind no matter what it is that you are doing at every point in your life. No matter what it is, even if you are walking, you should be focused in on that thing you want in life. Friends need to be ones that pull you closer towards your goals, not pulling you away. Your loved ones need to know just how important your goals are to you and how they can help you to achieve them, even if it is just not saying anything but they love you. Keep focused and stay on task at all times.

Now is the time to hear your call to action. Here is the opportunity to get out of the cage you’ve put yourself into all those years ago. I talked earlier about the golden rule. It is still in effect, even if it may be a little tarnished from being washed out by the past for so long. Treat others the way you would LIKE to be treated, and show them how you would LIKE to be treated by treating yourself with the utmost respect, courtesy, integrity, courage, determination and desire that one could ever imagine existed! Declare with enthusiasm and intensity what you want out of your life, take the first step towards it RIGHT NOW, and do everything to make the rest of your life, the best of your life.