The Golden Rule

I had something happen to me recently that has taught me multiple lessons (and yes, it's why I've been MIA).

Back in April, I got very sick. Probably more sick than some people realized. Long story short, I ended up in the hospital one week, and had to be taken extra special care of. Well let me tell you, this was not short lived. It has now been three whole months, and I am still recovering every single day.

You may think; well what is she getting at? What huge message is she trying to say right now based off of her being so sick?

Without dancing around the topic at all, the lessons I learned all had to do with who was there for me, and who wasn't there for me.

It's upsetting to think that anyone in your life, whether you are in constant communication or not, would ignore you in a time of need. You (hopefully) spend your days asking yourself how you can become a better person? How can you show the special people in your life that they mean something to you? There is room for improvement for ALL of us! God didn't make us perfect for a reason! He can't do all of the work; we need to figure some things out on our own. And that includes how to better yourself, for you and those around you.

Back to me complaining-

I believe, as humans, but more importantly, as the sons and daughters of God, that we all should be there for one another. I say it all the time, and I'll say it again: you never know what someone is going through. Someone really close to you could be going through a really difficult time that they don't feel like talking about yet. The important thing is that you're there for the people in your life. Whether you call them on the phone, send them a text, take them out to lunch, write them a card, there are a thousand ways you can stay connected.

I'm not telling you to keep an eye on your back, or reevaluate everyone in your life by any means. What I'm saying is to be careful. Treat those in your life how you'd want them to treat you. It's upsetting when you're let down...Trust me, I know. Therefore, I think we need to be more conscious about how we treat people.

My favorite person said this in his latest book, Shaken, "Think about the legacy you are building right now. Are you cultivating a life of generosity? Kindness? Compassion? Are you investing in others?" "Not many of us want to think about our morality. We prefer to distract ourselves instead. We watch mindless TV shows, overstuff our calendars, indulge in hobbies, and entertain ourselves into oblivion to take our minds off the fact that we won't be on this earth forever."

Tim Tebow speak volumes to me when he says this. When he continues writing, he talks about how our days are numbered and we need to live to be the best version of ourselves. While I think that is very true and very important, I took what he wrote a different way the first time I read it. I took it as: we don't have that much time on this planet. Therefore, we need to learn how to treat people properly. Now for some, this may take longer than others. But, I still believe that is a very important part of life. We are taught it as the "golden rule" in elementary school, but I feel like people seem to lose touch on it as they age. "Treat others the way you would like to be treated." I know plenty of people that have abused this 'rule of life' as some may call it, and for some I do not think it was done intentionally, but because of selfishness and maybe some stubbornness as well. To not be a hypocrite, I have abused this rule plenty of times. To my parents or brother, especially. But, I have apologized for it. Realizing that you've done something wrong makes you a successful person in many ways.

This day in age, life moves very fast. And I think that causes us to lose touch on the things that seem real simple, such as maintaining a relationship with someone. We are constantly moving, always busy. God forbid something happened to someone close to you, and you didn't find it important enough to be there for them, or you came up with some excuse as to why you shouldn't need to care.

How would you feel?