Remembering the golden rules Published May 2, 2007 By Col. Consuella Pockett 60th Medical Operations Squadron commander TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Have you ever had one of those days (or weeks) when you thought how much simpler life was when you were a kid? Some of the rules we learned as kids still apply to us as adults. Robert Fulghum, in his book All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, says some of the things he learned as a youngster were to play fair, clean up his own mess, say he was sorry when he hurt someone and to live a balanced life. I think some of us must have skipped class the day they taught these valuable skills of daily living. Why do we find it so difficult to play fair? Remember the "Golden Rule" about treating others as you want to be treated? I try to practice that simple rule in my day-to-day interactions with others. It really does not take any more energy to be polite and treat each other with dignity and respect than it does to go out of our way to ignore one another. Playing fair means doing your share of the work, doing things according to the established guidelines, even when no one is watching, and not taking shortcuts. Believe it or not, somebody else has already tried the shortcuts and discovered they really weren't shortcuts after all. When will we learn to clean up our own mess? This could refer to leaving our work areas in a state of chaos when we go home at the end of the duty day. It really is easier to clean up today's mess so we can start out fresh tomorrow. Remember that other rule about not putting off until tomorrow what you can do today? It could also refer to not taking care of our dorm rooms or base housing units. We should take pride in our living areas since they are a reflection of ourselves. It also refers to errors in judgment and taking shortcuts that result in failing to do the job right the first time. Each of us must take responsibility for our own actions and stop blaming others for our mistakes. Why is it so difficult for us to say we are sorry when we hurt someone? We need to step back and think about the way we treat each other. It seems we spend a lot of time and energy making each others' lives miserable. We seem to enjoy gossip and spreading hurtful rumors. Didn't your mother teach you not to say anything if you couldn't say something nice? Have we learned to live a balanced life? Fulghum says we need to learn and think and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work some each day. Remember that old adage about all work and no play? We have certainly mastered the concept of hard work. Now we need to find a balance between work and play. I often find myself struggling with this rule as the commander of a 550 person squadron, a wife and a mother of two-year-old twins. It is not always easy to find that balance in our lives. It is important to make time for our families and friends and even for ourselves. There is so much to do in the vicinity of Travis if we could just get out there and do it. My favorite place so far is Monterey. It has a great Aquarium that is very kid friendly, lots of parks, water activities and beautiful scenery. Napa Valley also has lots of beautiful scenery, especially in the fall with the brilliant colors on the grape vines along the hills and valleys. San Francisco has a variety of sights and activities to offer from the Pier to the Zoo and the ballgames. There is certainly no shortage of food selections. The traffic may be a deterrent for some but the ferry is a great option. Sacramento also has much to offer. Apple Country makes for a great Sunday outing especially in the fall. Tahoe is a bit further away but I understand that it is beautiful there year round. My husband and I have started making a list of the things we want to see before our tour at Travis ends. We have much we would like to do and see in the next year. Fulgham says we need to watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together whenever we go out in the world. I know that sounds like kids' stuff, but it really is the basic rules of survival. And, it really is the same as our Wingman concept. If we are successful in developing our Wingman culture, we will make great strides towards developing a sense of teamwork and esprit de corps. Life truly would be simpler if we made an effort to take better care of one another and follow the rules we all learned in kindergarten.