Photo by Igor Rand on Unsplash

An event at work, made me think about this… and obviously, write it.

So a colleague of mine and I needed to order lunch (not for the first time!). It’s only a 2-minute walk, and we usually agree on who’s “turn” it is to pick the lunch up.

Usually

And when we don’t, we end up in that scenario which I’m pretty sure most of you workers out there are already familiar with. We quarrel.. lightly… like colleagues do. The arguments brought up are usually the same, and pointless: who’s turn it is, who went last time, who already had or has other outdoor errands for the day….

Today, it was one of those, until I decided to give up and volunteered to go myself (even though I had just gone on Wednesday… or Thursday – Friday was a public holiday here, so…) On the way to the food shop, I thought about what I was doing.

I was doing to others what I wanted them others to do to me

Now I am not in anyway boasting about what a good Christian I am. The only person I’d boast about would be the Master who taught me this quote, if anything. I’m sharing this with you because it made me realise how powerful the above quote is. More powerful, in fact, than Live and Let Live. I’m not arguing against Live and Let Live (I am still giving it the capital letters it deserves… something I don’t even do for the church of the pope). I just feel, however, that social media and the news seem to have made it a point to flood us with this highly-esteemed quote. Hey, I’m not complaining! If I had to be honest, though, I do think that we’ve put Live and Let Live on a pedestal, lately.

In the experiences narrated above, Live and Let Live would’ve made me go and pick up my own lunch, and leave my colleague to starve to death. On the other hand, Doing to others what I want them others to do to me, has made my dynamically pro-active (as per the term we often use here at work). And I’m sure you agree with me: that’s one hell of a difference!

Live and Let Live will surely not make the world go blind, but it might certainly have us all turned into islands. And as another renown and powerful saying goes: No Man is an Island.