The golden rule of life embraces the following:

• Treat everyone the way you would have liked to be treated if you were in place of the other person.

• Think of everyone the way you would have liked to be thought of if you were in place of the other person.

Life’s design

WE live in a world in which everything we do is reciprocated. Every act we do to others has a consequence. An overwhelming majority of people agree to truths like ‘As you sow, so shall you reap’ and ‘What goes around, comes around’. So whatever you do to others will happen to you also.

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Moreover, people like William Shakespeare, Robert Browning, William Blake, Ludwig van Beethoven, Leonardo da Vinci, Socrates, Plato, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Pythagoras, Sir Francis Bacon, Sir Isaac Newton, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Victor Hugo and others have expressed this concept in their works. Most religions also include this fact in their respective teachings.

Treating others

AS mentioned earlier, the law of cause and effect is always working in our lives. So whatever good or bad we do to others, we basically bring it on ourselves as it always finds its way back to us by life’s design.

Do good to others if you want good to happen to you. And, think twice before doing anything bad to anyone because the same bad thing will happen to you also.

It pays to get rid of our emotions and actions based on common human tendencies of hatred, malice, jealousy, greed, selfishness, envy, pessimism, doubt and fear. This is so because these are the root cause of the troubles this world faces. The world needs to progress and be better and for that you and I need to base our actions and social dealings on self-confidence, courage, faith, kindness, loyalty, truth, justice and goodwill towards others.

Thinking well of others

IT is not enough to just treat others well. Thinking well for others signifies that we mean it when we treat others well.

As mentioned earlier, our thoughts about anything have the power of physically manifesting themselves. Positive thoughts lead to positive circumstances and happenings in our lives, while the reverse happens in case of negative thoughts.

Our mind is a creature of habit. Thinking well of others sets our minds working in the right direction. The positive emotions we indulge in thinking well of others gives us spiritual and psychological boost. It sets off a chain reaction that leads to favourable things happening in our lives by virtue of life’s design. The opposite of that happens when we do not think well for others.

Personality development

WHAT if we don’t get treated well by the person whom we treat well? And what if we get a strong feeling that treating someone well was not worth it? Even in such cases, we gain because we made use of the positive aspects of our personality in treating someone well. We end up building our character and personality in this way and, in nutshell, become a better person.

While following the above-mentioned advice one should not compromise on one’s self-respect. It is in no way intended that you become someone who is degraded and pushed around by others in the course of treating others well. You should learn to strike a balance in treating/thinking others well and preserving your self-respect.

Does vengeance pay?

MANY a times, we are overwhelmed by a natural need for revenge when someone does something bad to us. While it seems an obvious natural need to get back at the person who mistreated or hurt us, we must remember that revenge is not a positive motive. Our negative thoughts and actions embracing the revenge would bring forth more negative results in our lives.

Whoever harms you in any way ends up harming himself or herself because the law of cause and effect eventually applies in that person’s life without fail. So you can take heart from this design of life.

Moreover, forgiving others will have positive influences on your conscious and subconscious mind. It will help you focus on positive and important things in your life rather than holding petty grudges in your heart. Negative emotions like anger, stress, anxiety and depression will leave you; and you will be more hopeful and peaceful in your life.

The secret of happiness

TRUE happiness comes from helping others, being good to them and making them happy. Doing and thinking well of others will automatically bring happy circumstances in our lives by the law of cause and effect.

Looking for faults

WE notice and talk about other people’s shortcomings and mistakes all the time. How we wish that others would change to be what we want them to be! But, at the same time, it is important to note that each of us is not perfect either. We all have faults in our personality and in the way we deal with others.

We cannot control others around us, but we can make improvements in ourselves. If you want to make the world a better place, then look be that change yourself.

Do that for the sake of others around you and for living better by being a better person.

Those who understand these golden rules exercise care in their conduct and thoughts about others. This is because they understand that their every act and thought in this regard will determine how they are treated by life and by others in their life. Treating and thinking well of others is better for everyone including yourself.