2020-04-18 The One Book That Wil

If you are open, the universe will conspire to bring you the right book at the right time — when you need it.

A friend will suggest a book to you, or it’s sitting on a table at a yard sale, or the cover catches your eye as you walk by the endcap in your favorite bookstore. A book will come across your path right when you are ready to meet it when the wisdom within its pages speaks to a particular problem you’re struggling to solve.

I feel fortunate for books that find me at just the right time and spell out ways to simplify my life and underscore my values. Magic happens when you are open to learning something new and ready to take it in and implement its wisdom into your life.

The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, by Don Miquel Ruiz, is the book that found me just when I needed it.

I’ve internalized its knowledge and wisdom over the years.

The First Agreement: Be Impeccable With Your Word

Words have power. They have the power to seep into everything around you; they have the power to lift and the power to destroy.

The Second Agreement: Don’t Take Anything Personally

If you practice just this one agreement, your life will change.

When someone insults you, cuts you off in traffic, belittles your talent — it’s not about you. Let me repeat that. It is not about you.

The Third Agreement: Don’t Make Assumptions

The third agreement is the hardest one for me to maintain.

I have a terrible habit of thinking I can read everyone’s mind. When I assume I know why someone does something, it inevitably creates problems in my life, and nine times out of ten, I’m wrong.

The Fourth Agreement: Always Do Your Best

Sometimes I get overwhelmed. I don’t trust my talent, or I feel like I could be doing more, producing more, writing more. When my mind reels with this chatter, I stop and say to myself, “stop worrying, just do your best,” immediately my mind calms, and the negative chatter stops.

When you practice the last agreement, “Always Do Your Best”, it allows the other three agreements to become more deeply ingrained and useful.