"The Four Agreements" written by Don Miguel Ruiz is a beautiful guide which educates readers on how to find inner peace and happiness. The rules are crafted around ancient Toltec knowledge which Ruiz learned through his upbringing and later incorporated into his adulthood.
I love this book for so many different reasons.
For one, it's such an easy and fun read! Sometimes self-help books - especially spiritual self-help books - can sound like a haiku: a riddle that definitely has a solution, but no matter how many times you read it, you can't seem to find a meaning. Ruiz breaks such complex ideas into simple terms and paints scenarios that all readers can relate to.
Secondly, I love how spiritually driven this book is. For anyone who is beginning their spiritual journey and is looking for a starting point. READ THIS BOOK! It introduces a new perspective of the world to the reader and allows you to begin to control YOUR world easier.
The Four Agreements is a text that I immediately incorporated into my everyday life. On the surface, the laws seem so simple, but when you dive deeper into their individual meanings and apply them to your life, you find how complex and beneficial their substances are. Read on as I decode these agreements...
1) Be impeccable with your words.
This is the power of owning your word; constructing your own reality. The power of the tongue is so underestimated but so important. being impeccable with your words means practicing those positive manifestations and affirmations; not lying - owning up to the promises you make with others and yourself; using the tongue for good - not speaking down on yourself and others. Construct the reality you want by speaking it out loud. Wake up everyday and tell yourself the person in the mirror is smart, beautiful, and kind. Go to the gym because you told yourself you would. Hold yourself accountable and watch how fulfilled your words will make you feel.
2) Don't take anything personally.
You do not own the words and feelings of others. Anything that comes out of an individual's mouth is a projection of their internal feelings - it has nothing to do with you. This can be especially hard when others spew hateful venom towards you. not taking things personally means rejecting others' venom from infiltrating our own individual worlds. If you've been working hard all night, sweating, trying your best, and you overhear a coworker call you slow. That is a venomous projection that has escaped from their internal worlds. Do not let it infiltrate your barrier because it is not your burden to take on. Although it may not necessarily be the easiest thing to do, we must remind ourselves to not take their comment personally and magnify your own feelings of accomplishment. Pay attention to your own internal feelings and do not consume the burden of others' emotions.
3) Don't make assumptions.
Don't make assumptions. Point, blank, period. I think back to my eighth grade pre-calculus teacher telling us "assume makes an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me'", and it was probably some of the best advice we are ever going to get in life. Ruiz states that assumptions create the biggest miscommunications because we are internally creating a false scenario and convincing ourselves that it is the truth without consulting any other parties. From there, we start taking these assumptions personally and furthermore begin creating conflict between ourselves and others. We do it to protect ourselves from the unknown; we don't want to feel naive and vulnerable. However, we do ourselves such an injustice by not asking questions and learning the truth. Not only will you not make assumptions by asking questions, but now you may gain an over-standing of a situation.
4) Always do your best.
Finally, the last agreement, and one of my favorites: Always do your best. This is the process of performing to your best ability - not by looking at the next guy; you do you best by recognizing your own strengths and progress and by staying focused on what matters to you. What I love about "The Four Agreements" is that it recognizes that your best will look different on different days. So another aspect of not overworking yourself comes into play with this agreement. If you don't meet your goals, recognize the progress you did make and try again next time - that's all you really can do. That's doing your best.
"The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz can be found everywhere. In major stores and online.
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