Color within the lines.
It’s one of the earliest things we’re taught. Right around the time we’re first handed a crayon and a coloring book.
The objective: Follow the rules and good results will follow.
This mantra follows us into adulthood. We’re continue to be told that staying above board will lead to a positive outcome.
This carrot and stick routine is a powerful way of maintaining order within society.
It’s also completely bogus.
For as much as we’d like to believe it, life is not a meritocracy. Bad things happen to good people all the time, and the most deserving person doesn’t always reap the reward.
Those with connections or money can cut the line. Conversely, years of good deeds paired with chronic misfortune can leave us with nothing but heartbreak.
Why then, do we insist on coloring within the lines? On not taking the shortcuts and liberties others have gotten away with?
It has everything to do with balance.
You see, if we all decided the rules were not worth our attention, we’d leave ourselves in a very vulnerable state. While we’d have much to gain by putting our own interests first, we’d also lose the blanket of protection that the aura of order implies.
This is a prime reason why bouts of anarchy have been more of a pop-up thunderstorm than a Category 5 hurricane throughout history. We can only accept vulnerability for so long; once the initial jubilation of rebellion subsides, the risk outweighs the reward.
Continually fending off those trying to take advantage of us is stressful and exhausting. It’s far more comfortable to insulate ourselves in a structure that protects us against harm while rewarding us for our compliance.
This is not to say that we’re oblivious to the absurdity of our idealism. By and large, we understand that the world is not, in fact, fair. And we know that a steadfast belief in karma — good or bad — as an equalizer is more wishful thinking than reality.
But it gives us piece of mind to know where the lines are, and what it should mean if we stay on the right side of them.
It also makes us better members of society. After all, if we share a common understanding of the rules, we can commiserate freely without worrying about being stabbed in the back.
Indeed, the ideal of playing by the rules is no fallacy. It’s a necessary construct to provide us with the attributes key to our survival — comfort, protection and social connection.
These are attributes worth fighting for. So, let’s keep striving to color within the lines, even as others leave their crayon marks astray.