Have you ever played a game without rules, or with rules that were made up arbitrarily and only apply when convenient for the person who made them? Have you ever been upset or hurt by someone who wasn’t following a rule, law, or policy? Have you ever been the person not following a rule, law, or policy? Stinks, don’t it?
While working with children recently, I heard one of the other teachers say: “We have more fun when we follow our rules.” She’s absolutely right. If the kids don’t follow the rules then they can hurt themselves or each other. If they don’t follow the rules then we can’t show them the fun things we have planned for them to do. We all want to have fun, and rules help us have more fun.
The teacher also pointed out that even the teachers have to follow rules. You might not always like what the rules are, but we don’t get to do what we want all the time, not even the teachers. The rules are for everybody.
So I got to thinking about how that’s important for adults, too. Childhood is where we all begin learning the importance of rules, but sometimes as adults we can forget that rules are there to help us. Are there some bad rules? Yes, but I’m talking about the good ones at the moment. Having and following rules is important. We might not always like them, but they are there to help keep us and others safe, making life more enjoyable for everyone.
If we don’t follow the rules then we can hurt ourselves or others. If we don’t follow the rules then we miss out on some important instructions and boundaries for more fun.