Do you have a quote you live your life by or think of often?
This one’s simple.
No grand philosophy.
No dusty old rulebook carved into tablets of stone.
No ten-step programme to becoming a “better person.”
Just one line.
One rule.
One thing I try—try being the key word—to keep in the back of my mind as I bumble my way through life:
Don’t be a dick.
That’s it.
Now, before anyone starts looking for deeper meaning hidden between the lines… there isn’t one.
And yet—there absolutely is.
Because the older I get, the more I realise life doesn’t really need complicating. It’s already messy enough on its own. We don’t need to pile extra nonsense on top of it.
People are tired.
People are carrying things you’ll never see.
People are fighting battles they’ll never talk about.
And you?
You get to decide what you add to that.
I’ve spent enough time in my own head—and a fair bit of time in darker places than I’d care to revisit—to know how easy it is to snap, to lash out, to react first and think later.
Sharp word here.
Short temper there.
A moment of “I’m right and that’s all that matters.”
But here’s the thing…
Being right and being decent aren’t always the same thing.
“Don’t be a dick” isn’t about being perfect.
You’ll still mess up.
You’ll still have bad days.
You’ll still say the wrong thing at the wrong time (usually to the wrong person… funny how that works).
It’s about the pause.
That split second where you choose:
Am I about to make this situation better…
or worse?
It’s choosing not to fire back just because you can.
It’s holding your tongue when your ego’s screaming for airtime.
It’s remembering that not every hill is worth dying on—and not every argument needs winning.
Sometimes the strongest move you can make…
is just not being a dick about it.
No commandments.
No sermons.
No pretending I’ve got it all figured out—because I absolutely don’t.
Just one rule.
Simple.
Practical.
Surprisingly difficult some days.
And if more of us stuck to it?
The world wouldn’t magically fix itself overnight…
…but it might feel a little less heavy to walk through.
Stay safe
Bc
The Ramblings of Bob Christian 