Tags
Anthony DeMello, children, community, Diana Schwenk, love, parents, Purpose, Relationships, Rules of engagement, world issues
Obedience keeps the rules. Love knows when to break them ~ Anthony de Mello
Focus – structure – rules of engagement – all of these things have their place.
We wouldn’t want everyone running around Willy Nilly.
Would we?
Memorandum of Understanding signing (Photo credit: U.S. Coast Guard)
No, we need to have a common
purpose
and direction
to achieve whatever it is we are trying to do.
It’s a good thing to figure out how…
we will handle conflict when it arises
what we will do in case of an emergency
and what we will do when someone isn’t playing nice.
Rules set healthy parameters for our relationships to each other as…
husband and wife
Sweet Child O Mine (Photo credit: ssh)
parent and child
employer and employee
friend-to-friend.
They serve to build a foundation of trust.
They teach us the difference between right and wrong.
I have no quarrel with that.
My issue with rules arises when we use them…
to prevent us from helping someone who needs us
as an excuse for why we aren’t doing the right thing.
When something isn’t right…
shouldn’t we let love rule?
talktodiana 
“Some men see things as they are and say, ‘Why’? I dream of things that never were and say, ‘Why not’?” Robert Kennedy
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This is a great quote – thank you!
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It is a paradox. There are unwritten rules one lives by. An unwritten code on how one should behave. Sometimes people break those ‘rules’ and it sets you back in total shock that someone could behave like that. Yet no official laws have been broken.. At other times you find yourself scratching your head as to why certain laws have been written and people like sheep go along.
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It is a strange thing. That’s why I’m such a believer in personal mission statements. Writing them makes you look at your values, and once you’ve articulated them and written out a personal mission statement, it is easier to stay true to them.
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Yes, written personal mission statements are worthwhile. I have done that over the years but then all that was swept aside 12 months ago. I have more recently re-discovered my former writings and have been surprised at what I have found out about myself.
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I love looking back at older writing, particularly in my journal and especially when I see how I’ve come out of what seemed at the time, an impossible situation.
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So your story still lies untold?
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Huge portions of it! I was speaking more generally though, we all have had times we weren’t sure we’d survive, haven’t we? And then when you look back after a few years it’s like “oh yeah wow look how I got through that” kinda thing.
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Yes, and don’t I know it….. many times.
I am now starting to understand this Buddhist (?) or some such philosophy that the only thing that is predictable is change.
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I’ve always loved this song…Great post to, simply put truth.
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Thanks so much – appreciate it!
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Rules give us a way to ‘walk the line’ especially when we are learning the ropes, just like kids in kindergarten all holding on to the rope. But as we mature and become more secure in our beliefs and values, the easier it is to trust ourselves in our decision making. We need to always test that I believe – so that we are not just blindly following the status quo or tradition. Rules are meant to be broken, because it shows that we are constantly questioning and growing in our ability to do the right thing for the RIGHT reason.
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I like the way you express this – thank you for dropping in and commenting!
Diana
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I love to break stupid rules!
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(smiling) Don’t we all!
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I couldn’t agree more!
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It’s so true, isn’t it. I have seen people hide behind rules to avoid doing the right thing. Not a pretty thing to witness…
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It really isn’t, its definitely something I have a hard time watching!
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Yes yes yes there are some really stupid rules around and those ones need to be broken but youknow as I type this I can’t think of a single one of those stupid rules………….lol
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(laughing) even some good rules need to be broken every now and then!
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Well said – I think some rules must be broken if we live a life that is true. Some of the most important figures in history broke rules because their consciences would not permit them to obey them.
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Agreed! Thanks for reading … I really appreciate your comments!
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Good point Diana! I’ve always thought that rules are for those, who are “blind in the heart”, so therefore they can’t use love either. You write very well!
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Thank you for your encouragement of my writing! Means a lot coming from you. ❤
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Nicely done and dead spot on! Rules should not a prison make!
(And I really admire your ability to say so much in so few words!)
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Thank you for that compliment! I do try to communicate simply and with few words because I really admire those who can do that. And there is also something to be said for those who really get into the depths of a topic and shed light in every corner!
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Yeah,… they’re wordy, verbose, logorrheic,… ?)
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I’ll be back after I look up logorrheic!
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It’s actually one of my favorite words, perhaps because I have such a bad case of it.
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I still haven’t looked it up! Maybe you could spare me the trouble?
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Certainly! logorrhoea: Excessive verbosity or talkativeness. (Or, by extension, bloggativeness.) Sometimes referred to as verbal diarrhea.
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I’m like that when I’m tired!!!
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It is the exceptions that prove the rule, right?
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A fresh way to look at it. But yes, I would agree. 🙂
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