The Four Agreements
[1] Be Impeccable with Your Word
Speak with Integrity. Say only what you mean. Speak in Truth & Love.
[2] Don't Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you.
[3] Don't Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want.
[4] Always Do Your Best
Your best will change from moment to moment.
Between The Four Agreements (#2 has impacted me the most so far) and a good friend, I've grown a lot. I often repeat to myself "What anybody thinks of me is none of my business." -- I do not believe this 100% of the time, but about 80% of the time I try to remember this is a truth.
I'm now working on #3 -- Find courage to express what I really want. Most of the time I'm not sure, I'm so busy thinking about all sides of the issue and the ramifications of each choice, I'm stymied with indecision. Frozen. Knowing what you want is half the battle. I truly believe most of us do not really believe or understand what we truly want.
I was introduced to "The Work" by my good friend, and it is one of those things that I have not devoted a lot of time to, but in only having done this part... the four questions and the turnaround... I have found a lot of good stuff to work with.
"It’s about opening to your heart, not about trying to change your thoughts. Ask the questions, then go inside and wait for the deeper answers to surface."
[2] Can you absolutely know that its true?
[3] How Do You React, What Happens, when you believe that thought?
[4] Who Would You Be without the thought?
The turnarounds are your prescription for happiness. Live the medicine you have been prescribing for others. The world is waiting for just one person to live it. You're the one.
- As I began living my turnarounds, I noticed that I was everything I called you. You were merely my projection. Now, instead of trying to change the world around me (this didn't work, but only for 43 years), I can put the thoughts on paper, investigate them, turn them around, and find that I am the very thing I thought you were. In the moment I see you as selfish, I am selfish (deciding how you should be). In the moment I see you as unkind, I am unkind. If I believe you should stop waging war, I am waging war on you in my mind.
— Byron Katie
This Page is a Work In Progress!
