Why We Have to Follow Rules
No matter what we do or where we go, we have rules we need to follow. We have rules in all life’s situations. We have rules while driving on the road, rules at work, rules at school, we even have rules for crossing the street. Some are stated and some are simply understood.
While no one truly likes to be told what to do, the rules have been created as a form of structure. They lay out the boundaries that allow us to understand and cooperate effectively, knowing what is acceptable, and what is not. When we break those rules or ignore those boundaries, there are bound to be some negative consequences.
As a society, we would not exist without some form of structure and a strong set of rules being put into place. It goes back to the “If---Then” rule. “IF you do this, THEN this is going to happen”. The consequences can be either positive or negative based on the action that is being presented. We know that if we break a traffic rule, such as speeding, we are more than likely, sooner or later, going to get pulled over and get a ticket. That is the law. That is the rule that we need to abide by and the consequence that occurs if we don’t respect the rule. We can trust in that rule. It’s consistent. It’s posted often and in different places. It’s well known. And hopefully, we will do our best to respect that rule, otherwise we suffer the negative consequence of paying a fine.
The same aspects of life-rules need to be presented and upheld in the home environment. Over the years one thing I have heard is that parents have a hard time with being consistent in enforcing the rules within their home. Even with parents of children who are adults, the rules can become blurred and inconsistent based on circumstances. It is very important that we come together as a family, as a united front, and discuss together what our family behavior is going to be. Our behavior is based on our “behavior rules”, on our morals (beliefs between right and wrong behavior), and our values (the beliefs and behaviors we highly value to be the right thing to do).
