10 RULES TO LIVE BY

We, as people, are assigned to specific numbers of rules that we must follow since we were born.
Those rules might consist of doing something for your family, some random person in need of help in the
streets, or simply being a good person. That topic brings us to my first set of rules: Respect. Respect is defined as
an admiration for someone or something; however, in this context I am going to use it on people.
‘Respect People’s Personal Belongings’ is my first rule of the Respect category. The reason why people
should really consider this rule is because people forget to follow it. This rule is important because if you don’t
want to break, ruin, or even steal someone’s personal belongings that they’ve earned rightfully. Using an
example in real life, people tend to steal other’s personal belongings through stores, banks, and even in the
streets. The most common thing they steal is money that those people work hard for. Many people forget this
rule a lot because they only prioritize themselves first and not the people. ‘Respect People’s Personal Opinions’
is my final rule of the Respect category. This rule should really be focused on carefully, especially in online
environments. This rule is important because people on the web mistakenly get facts and opinions confused. As
an example, one person might say “Oh, I really love Queen. I think their music production and their lyrics are
the best I’ve ever heard” and another person might disagree and bash the person than the actual opinion like
“Are you stupid? You really have a dumb brain thinking Queen is special”. ‘Treat others the way you want to be
treated’ is my third rule. This is pretty self explanatory but it is very much true. Treating people nicely most likely
results in you getting the same treatment, as well. Some might think this is a very opinion-based rule and being
nice doesn’t guarantee nice things happening to you back; however, treating people nice is always a huge
positive impact on them regardless if it’s a small deed or a big one. Regarding our ethical frameworks, I believe
that both of these are voluntary obligations because people might be unethical and break and steal people’s
belongings but also some might voluntarily listen to a person’s opinion if they want to or not.
‘Be thankful for everything’ is my fourth rule. The purpose of this rule is for people to be thankful for
every gift, deed, or even love they receive. Being thankful is being appreciative for whatever someone or
something gives you, no matter the costs. I feel like this rule is really overlooked upon because from personal
experience, my cousins didn’t get what they wanted for their birthday gifts leading them into not thanking their
parents for the effort and also for their gift. ‘Don’t doubt yourself, be confident’ is my fifth rule. This rule is very
much subjective and people might feel otherwise considering if they apply to this rule or not, but I believe that
this rule should still be universally addressed. Doubting yourself is telling yourself that you can’t do it to a
certain extent that might not be real. This affects our society and people as a whole because if we’re not
confident in saying or doing things, then there is no communication between us as human beings. ‘Clean After
Yourself’ is my sixth rule. This rule is important and slightly ties into respect, as well. Cleaning after yourself
means cleaning your mess that you might’ve caused while eating or doing something. An example of this is
when you’re in a fast food place without no waiters or waitresses, it is your duty to clean after yourself to show
some respect to the workers who work there. This ties into voluntary obligation because you can either clean
after yourself or not, which is unethical to this scenario. But, people might say there are waiters and waitresses
that are obligated to pick up your mess for you, and for this scenario you might as well tip them for their good
deeds and cleaning up your mess. This rule is important and a must if you are out in public. ‘Be positive in any
environment’ is my seventh rule. This rule, like the other ones, is very important when you’re out in public.
What this rule basically means is whenever you’re in a negative or even positive environment, try to keep your
head up no matter what and stay positive. An example of this is when you’re in a funeral and everyone has
negatively sad energy, you can stay positive knowing that whoever passed away is in a better place now.
Another example of this is when you’re in a birthday party where a lot of kids are screaming and you’re
annoyed, be positive and think of how the kids are feeling during the party. Using the ethical frameworks, I can
identify most of these being voluntary obligations like ‘clean after yourself’ or ‘be positive in any environment’.
‘Apply Frameworks When Needed’ is my eighth rule. It is self-explanatory again. Using different types
of frameworks and applying them to real life situations can really be a positive action. For instance, an old lady
is about to cross the road with groceries; in this situation, a person might use the voluntary obligation and help
the old lady out. Another example is when you sign up for a sport; in this situation, a person might use the duty
framework and commit to the sports team that they signed up for. Overall, this rule is good for being ethical
everywhere you go. ‘Don’t make a small argument surface into a big one’ is my ninth rule. Another important
and self-explanatory rule. What this means is really when people start a small argument like “your mom is blah
blah blah” and it turns into something overly offensive (can be used as hate speech, as well). An example of this
is on twitter there was a fight between two video game streamers. They started to talk trash to each other
because one streamer was mad on how he lost to the other streamer. It was a small argument that turned into a
racist argument between them. Thankfully, that was solved through many community support on twitter. This
rule is important because small arguments are fine; but, big arguments that offend people, etc, can really be
heartbreaking and unnecessary. ‘Do No Harm’ is my tenth and final rule. Like very much every rule, it is
self-explanatory. Do not harm can be in any form, physical and/or mental. An example of physical harm is
fights between two people or even more. An example of a mental harm is when people talk bad to you in school
or on social media that can hurt your feelings. This rule is important because it is really overlooked upon by
some people who do fight and I think it is really important to just not harm anyone.
Therefore, these are my 10 rules we should live by. These rules contain various things like respect
people, be positive, and overall be a good person to society. These rules is what I want to follow for the rest of
my life, hopefully. Even though I’m struggling with a few of these rules like ‘respect people’s belongings’ and
‘clean up after yourself’, I believe that with these rules in my mind, I will get used to following each and
everyone of these and become a better human being.
SOURCES:
Brown University. “A Framework for Making Ethical Decisions”, 2017, Rhode Island 02912, USA.