Honestly, I’ve read a lot of books, and I mean a lot, probably hundreds, if not thousands, of online blogs, countless amount of short stories, poems, you name it, but I would have to state that the best I have ever read is one I just recently came into possession of: The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by don Miguel Ruiz.
The Four Agreements is a Toltec wisdom book and discusses four agreements (obviously) that the author, Ruiz, believes every human being should promise to themselves. I came across this book when I was told to read it by my psychiatrist, after I had told her that I was having a difficult time with personal issues I have struggled with for years, and she believed this book would really help me. And she was right.
The first agreement is “Be impeccable with your word.” By this, the author means that you should only say what you mean – do not purposefully mislead a person with your words, so as to confused them. He also states that you should never use your Word to speak against yourself or to “gossip” or spread rumors about other people, and you should not use the power of your Word for any other direction besides toward truth and love and to speak with integrity.
The second agreement is “Don’t take anything personally.” Ruiz believes that if a person is intentionally speaking negatively about you or about anyone other than themselves, then it is not about whomever they are intending to hurt with their Word – it’s about the one insulting the other. He says that we all live inside of a dream, and their acting negatively is a projection of their own reality, their dream. When you built yourself up to immunity of others’ opinions and actions, you will no longer be the victim of undeserved suffering.
The next agreement Ruiz discusses is “Don’t take anything personally.” Ruiz says that with this one agreement, you can completely change your life. This agreement consists of: finding the courage to ask questions about opinions and customs you are not adapted to, expressing how you really feel about another person, a belief, or even a controversial topic, and communicating with others as clearly as possible, so as to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and most importantly of all, drama.
The final agreement is “Always do your best.” The author states that your best will change from moment to moment, depending on both your physical and mental state, such as, your best is better when you are healthy as opposed to when you are sick. He believes that doing your best will result in avoiding self-abuse, self-judgement and regret.
“When you feel good, everything around you is good, when everything around you is great, everything makes you happy. You are loving everything that is around you, because you are loving yourself. Because you like the way you are. Because you are happy with your life. You are happy with the movie that you are producing, happy with your agreements with life. You are at peace, and you are happy. You live in that state of bliss where everything is so wonderful, and everything is so beautiful” (Ruiz).
(I couldn’t find any page numbers online, so please don’t think I’m plagiarizing).
