Rules make us feel comfortable.
We follow the rules, do what we are supposed to do, and reap the reward at the end.
Follow the rules, get the prize. Easy.
Only I’m not so convinced that there really are any rules.
For one, rules can be circumvented. If you can find a way around the rule, while still technically not breaking the rule, then suddenly the rule doesn’t really exist.
And, rules can change (and quickly, too). Usually by someone or something powerful. And the rules that you have been following are now obsolete (along with your prize).
So what do you do when there are no rules? Break them all? Make your own? Go live by yourself on a mountain?
No. Just expect the rules will change.
You can follow them (it’s always your choice anyway), just know that the rules you follow now, you might not be following ten years from now.
Rules are always a part of a context, and when the context changes so do the rules. Rules don’t exist by themselves.
You might hear people say “that’s the exception, not the rule” to discredit the exception. But I find myself paying closer attention to the exception.
You never know, it might be the new rule one day. 
Photo Credit: Carrie Scharf