I was introduced to this book during my senior year in high school, a guidance counselor I look up to read it at a club meeting I was involved in. She read from The Four Agreements and I immediately was interested in this author's theory of how to live a happy life. I later read the book of its entirety and so many questions I had about life were answered in this book. I do believe everyone who reads this will benefit from it and gain a new perspective on their attitude and actions while strolling through their every day lives.
The Four Agreements
This book is filled with fundamentals that are essential to living a life filled with absolute euphoria. They key is following through with each rule and committing fully in order for the plan to work. However, doing so is one of the hardest things anyone will ever do but executing them as best and as often as you can, it will change your life for the better.
The Four Agreements are:
1. Be Impeccable with your Word Say only what you mean. Avoid using words to speak against yourself or to gossip about others.
2. Don’t Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.
3. Don’t Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama.
4. Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.
There is a moment, or should I say several moments constantly happening in our lives where we are confused and filled with different emotions. Moments when we are depressed and unbalanced, we lash out and act immature and irrational in situations. We don't know how to handle things and most of the time we don't want to so we take the easiest ways out--being as negative as we can.
There are times where I am torn between everything happens for a reason and there is no reason at all.
There are times where I think everything I do is wrong or everything I do is me trying my best.
I think we can all take something significant from this book, from this theory, the theory that what we get out of life depends on what we put into it. Happiness could be a mood that we are in charge of, if we remember that every day I think we could all live easier.
