Recently I gave a four-week series presentation at Unity Church of Christianity in Pensacola, based on the best selling book The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz. For those of you who have not read this outstanding book I highly encourage you to do yourself a life enhancing favor and purchase it today.
In my many years of seeking to broaden my knowledge and spiritual depth, I have read many books that have given me hope, healing and insight, but in all honesty, never have I read a book that left me thinking… and thinking… and re-thinking the principles of each agreement throughout my day. These agreements, when one is willing to work with them with serious intent, will retrain our thinking, and rework our subconscious patterns of behavior. The Four Agreements are as follows:
1.) Be Impeccable with Your Word
2.) Don't Take Things Personally
3.) Don't Make Assumptions
4.) Always Do Your Best
I can't say that working with these four agreements is easy, I can't even lie to you and tell you that I've mastered them, for I have not. What I will tell you is that I have found them to be an eye-opener for who I believe myself to be. I'm not talking about our public image, or the one we create for ourselves so that others will find favor in our behavior, I'm talking about the person we are when we get down and truly naked with ourselves. The real us, without the facade of a mask or the various personality costumes which we can change into from moment to moment. I can now catch myself taking something personally that truly "ain't my stuff." Do I overcome the need to make it personal? Sometimes. Other times I find myself back in the reoccurring role of being hurt, feeling unloved, misunderstood or picked on, etc. etc. Does any of this sound familiar to anyone other than me?
Does a sense of humor mean I'm not being impeccable with my words? I love to laugh; I find humor in situations around me all the time. It has been my way of surviving some pretty rough spots along the road. When I say things that are spoken in humor, am I really not honoring the agreement about impeccability? Sometimes I realize again, that I must continually monitor my intent. Did I mean harm when I spoke those words; was I just playing or kidding around? Always consider your intentions. Someone once said, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." I'm not so sure I buy that line. I know many times I've meant well, I thought I was doing the right thing, or saying what needed to be said to make something right and it backfired on me. It is what lies within one's heart that makes the person great or not so great. I believe the road to inner peace and tranquility is paved with the best of heartfelt intentions. Father teach me now to be impeccable with the words I choose to speak.
Someone told me something the other day that a particular someone had supposedly said about me that held not even a drop of truth in it. (smile) I'm assuming it was told to me the way it was exactly spoken… Ooops! Did I just say I assumed something? Isn't it funny how we can assume so much out of so little, and usually with such little truth even involved? I want to assume less of the negative in my life and start to assume more of the positive. I want to assume that "surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life." That my life is filled with wonderful loving people who love, nurture and support me in all that I do. That whoever I work for sees my worth and my integrity, that whoever I share my heart with sees my inner beauty and spirit. These are the things that I now choose to assume for my highest good, for I am worthy of such assumptions as these. Are you?
I have always been one of those people that truly tries to do my best. I try to do the right thing; I try to be fair even when it hurts. I try to communicate well with others and express my thoughts and feelings as clearly and precisely as I can. I try my best in my work, I try my best in my relationships, I try my best in my finding and expressing the Christ within me. Do I always soar with flying colors? Get real… I will be the first to tell you that I fall and sometimes fall hard. Looking back, there have been events I am not so proud of. Times when I could have done better, handled it maybe a little differently than I might do today. But I can honestly say to you and to myself, that in the moment, I did the best I could with who I was at the time. I have done my best at finding who I am, I have done my best at trying to find a better way to live my life. I can sit here and write about the times I've hurt people I loved. When I walked away, when I could have stayed and tried a little harder. I've grown through those times and taken their lessons to heart and offered them to others as a way of knowing that first and foremost we must be willing to learn from who we were yesterday, so that those lessons can create the foundations of who we are today and who we are becoming for the tomorrows that lie ahead. Always do your best. Always offer the best of who you are to the world before you. When we offer the universe the best of who we are, the universe will be willing to offer the best of the best to us. Until next month, be good to yourself, be good to others and make some new agreements. You won't be sorry that you did. Oh…and yeah, keep spreading "The Light."
About the author:
Jamie Sanders is an New Thought minister and is an active speaker, workshop facilitator and performer for Unity Churches, retreats and other New Thought organizations. He currently resides in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.
For more information on available dates for speaking, you can visit his web site at www.jamiesanders.com
Table of Contents
Letter to the Author: Jamie Sanders at Jamie1118@aol.com