Have you read The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, by Miguel Ruiz?
The message of this short, yet powerful little book is that when you embrace “The Four Agreements,” you will find yourself experiencing personal freedom.
As we know:
Addiction takes away freedom.
Reading the book reminded me of coming home. The agreements are a profound reminder of what most of us have known all along, but we don’t always put into practice. It’s about finding our center.
I was cleaning out a drawer last week, and discovered a 48-card deck that I had bought after reading the book. I had purchased the cards a few years ago and had forgotten all about them. It is always fun to rediscover long-lost treasures.
When I was struggling with my child’s addiction, I remember picking up the book. I rediscovered some powerful tools that would help me stay focused and regain my freedom from my continual worrying. I needed a reminder, because I was feeling so stressed.
Here are a few samples from the cards I recently rediscovered. My hope is that you, too, will know that you have the freedom to control your world and find your inner peace.
Be Impeccable with Your Word
Create a beautiful dream. Your word can create the most beautiful dream, or your word can destroy everything around you. Impeccability of the word only creates beauty, love, and heaven on earth.
Release the need to be right. When you believe something, you assume you are right. And you may even destroy relationships in order to defend your position. Let go of the need to defend your position.
Replace fear with love. The human mind is like a fertile ground where seeds are continually being planted. When you are impeccable with your word, your mind is no longer fertile ground for the words that come from fear; your mind is only fertile for the words that come from love.
Seek to know the truth. When you hear an opinion and believe it, you make an agreement, and it becomes part of your belief system. The only thing that can break this agreement is to make a new one based on truth. Only the truth has the power to set you free.
Don’t Take Anything Personally
Embrace your freedom. You gain a huge amount of freedom when you take nothing personally. No spell can affect you, regardless of how strong it may be. And if you live without fear, if you love, you will be happy with your life.
See other people as they are. When you see other people as they are without taking it personally, you can never be hurt by what they say or do. Even if others lie to you, it is okay. They are lying to you because they are afraid you will discover that they are not perfect.
Transform your life. When you refuse to take things personally, you avoid many upsets in your life. Your feelings of anger, jealousy – and even your sadness – will simply disappear if you don’t take things personally.
Your truth is personal to you. Your own opinions and point of view reflect your own agreements and are personal to you. It is no one’s truth but yours.
Don’t Make Assumptions
Be yourself around others. The biggest assumption that humans make is that everyone sees life the way we do. We assume that others think, feel, and judge the way we do. We are afraid to be ourselves around others because we think others will judge us, victimize us, abuse us, and blame us as we do ourselves.
Communicate with clarity. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness, and drama. If all humans communicated with impeccable words, all of our relationships would change. There would be no wars, no violence, no misunderstandings.
Learn to ask questions. It is always better to ask questions than to make assumptions. Have the courage to ask questions until you are as clear as you can be. Once you hear the answer to a question, you won’t have to make assumptions because you will know the truth.
Speak openly and honestly. When you speak openly and honestly, you won’t have to make assumptions. The day you stop making assumptions, you will communicate clearly and achieve impeccability with your word.
Always Do Your Best
Stay in the Present Moment. Keep your attention on today and stay in the present moment. This is the beginning of a new understanding, a new dream.
Surrender and Let Go of the Past. Whatever life takes away from you, let it go. When you surrender and let go of the past, you allow yourself to be fully alive in the moment. Letting go of the past means you can enjoy the dream happening right now.
Take Action on Your Ideas. Doing your best means taking action. You can have many great ideas in your head, but without action upon an idea, there will be no manifestation, no results, and no reward.
Take Your Life and Enjoy It. You are alive, so take your life and enjoy it. You were born with the right to be happy, to love, and to share your love. Just to be – to take a risk and enjoy your life – is all that matters.
Thank you for reading. You can get more tips in my email newsletter. Every other week, I share tips and ideas to help parents motivate their son or daughter to change if they are struggling with substance use. Join us by entering your email now.
