Rules Of Engagement: Everybody isn't your Friend.. Feed Them With A Different Spoon.

Similar to the "Fire a shot in the air.. " rule, this rule helps you compartmentalize those friends or associates in their respective categories.

Unlike "Fire a shot.." this rule derives, not from a place of organized chaos but from a genuine, wholehearted, good intention. Everybody isn't your friend.. Thats already known. We have come to a point in our lives that we are able to select our friends. The given title "friend" is weighted. It comes with responsibility, purpose, and intent. The intent to treat/care for me, as I would do for you. Understand, that everyone can not hold this weight. Remove those who are weak in mind, ambition, and morality.

Feed them with a different spoon.. is recognizing those who do not belong under the weighted title of friend and then treat them accordingly. You must evaluate them individually and separate them according to the category(s) you place them in. Each category must have limits, rules, and reason. What is their reason for being in this category? What limits does this particular friendship have? What rules will/should be put in place so that we don't exceed those limits and expectations? Understand, that this category outside of the "Friend" category already falls short of their position in your life. They must have a purpose for being in your life. Feeding them with a different spoon means there is a difference in treatment. My friends can eat with me, at the same table, out of the same bowl, we can share the same spoon... if I have food, we all will eat "May No Troubled Youth Be Forgotten". The difference in spoons, is saying "Yes, we can eat together, however there is a limit".

It's very rare that people move beyond the categories you place them in once they are there. The idea of someone "moving up" or given additional privileges in your life is unsafe. More often than not, another box or category is created for that person. A category with additional privileges, but comes with condition.

Written By A Troubled Youth

Rules Of Engagement R.O.E are a set of internal rules that define the degree and/or manner in which the use of strategic thought and action(s) are applied. Rules Of Engagement must be consistent, while accounting for a variety of potential uncertainties. Each rule is singular and can stand on its own to achieve the result in which you desire.. or rules can be assembled and utilized simultaneously. Rules of Engagement does not dictate how a result is to be achieved, but will guide what measures are unacceptable.