The Golden Rule

How do we walk through the world? Are we cognizant of how we are treating those we interact with each day? We learned the Golden Rule at a young age: “Do unto others as you would do unto yourself.” This quote is a summation of the words that Jesus spoke at his Sermon on the Mount. Going even farther back, the Hebrew bible states, “Whatever is hurtful to you, do not do to any other person.” We hear it over and over again in a myriad of ways: treat others the way you want to be treated, be kind to others as you would want them to be kind to you; the variations on this theme are endless.

Recently I came across a quote by Gloria Steinem where she said, “We should do unto ourselves as we would do unto others.” I was stopped in my tracks. Well, actually, I was just sitting in front of my computer but I stopped scrolling for a full extra minute. The point is, WHOA.

I always assumed the Golden Rule was just, the RULE. And it felt relatively easy to offer it to the World. These days perhaps less so as we tend to stay in our bubble of those who think the way we do or believe the things we believe. And perhaps it is because we are not steeped in this practice of the Golden Rule of Self-Love above all else.

We offer the deepest of kindnesses, compassion, understanding, love and forgiveness for those closest to us. Our friends and family are on the receiving end of many of these beautiful and heartfelt feelings. How many of these qualities do we cultivate within ourselves? I’m going to ask that again, “How many of the qualities of kindness, compassion, understanding, love and forgiveness do we offer ourselves?”

This week, take a little bit of time every day to extend the feeling of love, or acceptance, or compassion, or understanding, forgiveness or kindness to yourself. You deserve it. The Golden Rule applies to YOU too.

In your best health and with love,

Betsy