The Four Agreements

Reading a book that inspires and reaffirms living a good life doesn’t happen every time I pick up a book. Well this one has it, The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.  Life has a type of “domestication” within our society that almost requires us to become as our culture expects us to be.  Think about how much we are influenced by others (the external)?  This, in my opinion, is one of the greatest books I have read that will work for my coaching clients.  It forces one to think about changing oneself from the inside out.  Ruiz illustrates the larger concept of how we are formed by language and actions of others that provide a negative view of life – as he calls it living in hell.  We live in a dream state that is cultivated by messages that others provide us, in many respects similar to the work I share with my life coaching clients using Barbara Sher’s work (a great author for all to gain perspective on how we are influenced by others).  So after Ruiz provides this macro view of our lives, he gives the reader four agreements that if we make with ourselves and commit to doing we will be living a more truthful and honest life for ourselves and be better for others.  Makes sense, huh?  How so?  Well, let’s look at those four agreements!  Agreement 1: be impeccable with your word!  Your word is a reflection on your soul and how you want to be characterized by others.  Be truthful, live the life you believe is worthy to be lived.  Agreement 2: don’t take anything personally.  For me, this is how the outside (external factors) tells our minds what it “wants” us to think.  For instance, when an action or comment is made we feel the negative and harp on it, which does not allow us to move forward in a way that provides energy for us to effectively live our lives.  Agreement 3: don’t make assumptions. That’s an easy one for we know what that leads to…   Agreement 4: always do our best.  Ruiz shares that through his experience that many terminally ill patients gain a sense of peace from embracing these four tenets into their lives.  My question:  why must we wait until the end of our lives to get it “right?” Seems pretty silly that it takes a death sentence for one to finally wake up and treat this life experience as special.  Ruiz makes a simple suggestion worth repeating: “we don’t know when our last day will be, so let’s live as if today is the last day.”  This is a book for reflection and action, a gift worth reading and re-reading.  Go buy this book for your best friends and loved ones.  A keeper!