The Golden Rule

I love to watch BYU TV. I have seen some great lectures and one of my favorites was by clinical psychologist James McArthur. He talked about this great concept he called, “writing on a person’s chalkboard.” A simple example he gave was reading the same story to his granddaughter for the 200th time. He asks, “What does that write on her chalkboard?” It tells her that she is important.

I made a trip to Tracy, California this week. My brother flew in from Utah for the day to conduct a training session for Home Depot employees on some aspect of sprinklers, since he works for Orbit Irrigation. He called me the night before and asked if I wanted to meet up for an hour and I said, “No way am I going to drive 80 miles to Tracy.” So the next day I surprised him and while I have no preconceived notion about what that might write on his chalkboard I asked myself, “How would I feel if I was 80 miles from one of my siblings homes and they didn’t come see me?” Answer: Bad. So I went. We had a great time hanging out for an hour and a half. Was it worth $20 in gas and three hours of driving? It was totally worth it.

I have come to realize that my bottom line is the Golden Rule. If I expect somebody to drive 80 miles to meet me then I have to do the same when I have the opportunity. The Golden Rule is such a great motto to live by. It makes life simple. Your relationships become much clearer with the Golden Rule in mind, because you stop making excuses for others like, “She is probably having a bad day.” Whether you are depressed, angry, intoxicated, or sleep deprived if the golden rule is part of your values system you cannot conceive of causing any more damage than you yourself can handle. It’s a beautiful principle.