The Golden Rule

"Treat others the way you want to be treated."

I was thinking about this idea the other day and a thought occurred to me. It's a bit complicated, but completely worth sharing so I do hope that you bare with me!

I think that it would be incredibly interesting if we actually felt the feelings that we make other people feel. If we not only treated others the way they want to be treated, but actually felt their emotions that went with how we treated them. Ok, let me explain...

Lets say, for example, you go through the check out line at Meijer. You compliment the cashier on her unique name, get the story behind it, chat about something more than "Did you find everything ok?" and have a good conversation. You would make that cashier feel special and good about him or herself. and because you did that, you yourself would then feel special and good about yourself.

Or, for another example, lets say you are driving and you're not paying very close attention and you cut someone off. They would feel annoyed and maybe angry. and because you made them feel annoyed and angry, you yourself would take on those emotions. You would be annoyed and angry.

Or, for another example, lets say you said something kind of insensitive that hurt someone's feelings and made them feel insecure. You, yourself, would then have hurt feelings and feel insecure.

Does that make sense? I hope so. I think it's potentially a world changing, life altering thought. Because I know (I know I know I KNOW) that if I could honestly feel the way I made other people feel, just as much as they feel their emotions, I would probably live my life a bit differently. Because I know that I don't like to feel angry, hurt, insecure, jealous, annoyed, betrayed, unloved... etc. So I would have a vested interest in not making others feel those emotions. I do, however, like to feel loved, special, like I belong, unique, loved, interesting, beautiful, appreciated, loved, noticed, honored, funny, happy, and loved (and loved and loved)..... I could go on forever. So I would put forth a great effort into making others feel that way, so as to increase my own positive emotions.

What if I lived this way all the time? What if you lived this way all the time? I want to try living like this. I want to live my life accutely aware of the way I am making others feel and taking their emotions on myself.

Because other people matter. They matter more than anything else in this world. More than animals. More than ideas or jobs or degrees or

if you call yourself a Christ-follower, other people matter more than yourself. I constantly have to remind myself of that truth. (and I know it's truth because I can feel it written on my heart, and when I actually do it, I know that it is how life is supposed to be lived)

Imagine. Just imagine if everyone lived this way. Ohmygoodness. The world, the world would be such a beautiful place.

Please, can we all try? To treat others the way we want to be treated, as if it were true.