In the past few years, I have been relentlessly blinded with the harsh reality that remind me that no matter how nice, how loyal, how faithful, how considerate, how forgiving or how compassionate you are to person, you’re simply no guaranteed reciprocation.

I’ve decided I must be a glutton for punishment, because often times I find myself wanting to give people second and even third chances. Some, who have especially big places in my heart, are granted unlimited amounts of forgiveness simply because I see their true potential. I make a conscious choice to assume positive intent, to assume the people who carelessly hurt me made a mistake and deserve to be met with grace and compassion.

And still, I believe that everybody does deserve grace and compassion.

The real problem stems from a long line of narcissism and a huge lack of consideration for anyone other than one’s self. Millennials pretty much wrote the book when it comes to being self-absorbed, and what I see to be the biggest problem is that people have truly forgotten what it means to be a decent human being.

Here are 3 Golden Rules we should all consider when striving to be a decent human being:

1. Treat others the way you would like to be treated: This one seems to be especially concerning because I feel like I hear it so often. People will be venting about friend drama and mention all of the ways that they have been wounded, and yet, I can't help but notice that often times the person wounded fails to recognize that their own behavior can be just as wounding and upsetting as the person they are venting about. This rule is simple enough, if you wouldn't want somebody to treat, talk about or speak to you in a specific way, the you should make damn sure that you follow your own rules. Kindness and compassion go SO far and I strongly believe that regardless of the consequences, kindness and compassion will always be the right answer in any tough situation.

2. Recognize that time is limited: In other words, let us not take people for granted. We are all so quick to assume that we will have certain people in our lives forever but the truth is that we never really know for sure what tomorrow will bring.If somebody is important to you, show them. If you value a person's place in your life your actions will show it and you will exercise great consideration, dedication and loyalty towards them. So often, we put relationships on the back burner because we expect our closest friends to be there waiting when we are ready. We need to make people and loyalty more of a priority in relationships and if we do, we will be all the better for it because we will ave more consistent relationships and deeper connections.

3. Leave people better than you found them: This had become my personal motto. I strive everyday to find ways to leave the people I come across on my journey, just a little bit better than how I found them. What does that mean? Well to me it means that I work hard to be the most real, honest, open and compassionate version of myself and the rest just falls in place. If I am real and open about my daily struggles in life, I can give other people permission to be accepting of their own struggles. If I admit my failures (there are several), I give others permission to fail with grace because quite frankly perfection isn't something any of us can achieve anyway, so why not just accept ourselves for who we are and work towards being the very best versions of ourselves. While doing this we can also accept others for who they are and that my friends is something we don't see everyday.

It's not hard to be a decent and considerate person and yet it's not something we see people practicing regularly. Though I've been disappointed by so many people, I've finally come to terms with the fact that as a society and especially as millennials we just don't value loyalty and compassion and consideration like we used to.

So heres to being a decent human being, because life is short and people are worth it.