Many people tell me that they don’t need institutional rules to live by, as THEY know the difference between right and wrong.
And when I point out a dispute between what they consider wrong about other people, and what other people thing wrong about them, they are quick to rationalise their own behaviour and judge the others by their own standards.
This demonstrates that everyone has a built in, ego based, self-defence, survival mechanism, operated by the so-called cognitive mind or cerebral hemispheres, called rationalisation. This would be called subjective thinking.
For a society to live in harmony, we need objective rules that everyone conforms to, especially when it comes to how we treat other people, and that extends to our behaviour to and in the environment, as that affects other people as well (like rules around etiquette in meetings or social settings or even table manners).
The question is maybe how to ensure that the rules of a society are genuinely objective and for the general good and harmony of everyone in the society, and not to satisfy the needs of a specific group?
Some of the rules can be agreed on democratically, and a vast majority will agree, like rules around murder, theft, rape etc.
Let’s focus on laws that you make for yourself, outside of government or corporate rules and regulations. How do you know what is right and wrong in YOUR life, without resorting to quoting YOUR religious doctrine (because some religions frown on things sanctioned or encouraged by others).
I believe we are all born with an inner knowledge of what is right and wrong, good and bad. Making right and good choices affects our bodies energies by maintaining a high frequency of the particles, and we feel lighter. When we choose to act, talk or think in a way that is contrary to our inner knowledge of good and right, then it disrupts our energy systems and we feel dense, heavy, off balance, and if done regularly, leads to dis-ease in our body. This is because any system deprived of the right frequency will tend to go out of balance and stop functioning correctly, just like a spinning top that looses momentum.
So my challenge to you is threefold.
1. Think back to the past, and notice in the present how you feel when you are in a situation when you are doing something that you would consider to be good and right, like complementing someone, telling them you love them, telling the teller they gave you too much change, expressing gratitude for a tasty meal or beautiful sunset. Also notice how you feel when you are rude to someone (no matter how much your rationalise they “deserve” it), or when you get angry, or when you notice you have extra change but rationalise that you deserve to keep it as THEY made the mistake etc.
- If you can sense that living by thoughts, emotions and behaviours considered to be good and right leave you feeling lighter, energised and happier, and those considered to be bad and wrong leave you heavy, tired and negative, CHOOSE what emotions and energy levels you would like to live your life by.
- Consciously choose to think, speak and behave in ways that leave you feeling lighter, energised and happy, and learn how to quickly recognise the opposite and stop yourself or reverse the behaviour when you find yourself spiralling into bad or wrong thoughts, feeling and behaviours.
I wander, when you look back three months from now, how massively you will notice your life and relationships have changed, and if even your financial situation has improved.