Big Things In Small Pages

     Hey, peoples of the Internet! Another beautiful day, and another fantastic cup of iced coffee to get the old arc reactor going. I honestly don't know what I'd do without this sweet nectar of the gods. I guess if everyone has a vice, mine is definitely coffee. Well, unless you count collecting other peoples belly button lint.. Anyways..
  
     So I thought I'd share with you guys an awesome piece of reading that I recently finished. It's a book called The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. It's a very small book, a very easy read, but holy balls does it pack a punch. I like to keep an open mind and try to gather info from wherever I can to keep on the path of making myself a better person, so coming across this little slap in the face was priceless. I want to just shoot out the basic premises of what it's about so you can get a good idea of how supacool it is.
   

Those tights do not match your mask!

     The basic idea of the book is that we have all, as a society, come to make these negative agreements with ourselves. Some big, some small, but all equally important. Don says that to live a more fulfilling life, we need to break ourselves of old agreements, and just import four new ones in their place. Of course, he goes into more detail about this whole process, but I'll just give you the reader's digest version.
  
     1. Be Impeccable With Your Word. All of the four agreements are important, but this one is definitely one of the more important ones. Don states that our words are incredibly powerful, and can be used to create positive, or negative energies. Just like water can keep us healthy and sustain life, you can also put it in a balloon and send it careening into your roommate's ear for eating the last bit of cereal. Staying aware of what we are saying, how we are saying it, and the intent behind it, can be a massive change on it's own.
  

There is nothing as terrifying as a concealed water balloon.

     2. Do Not Take Anything Personally. Once you really begin to take notice, you'll see there are very tiny things that we take personally. Have you ever gotten angry at a computer, or a printer, or bugs, or that freaking water temple in The Ocarina of Time? These are things that we take personally, and it's silly. It's not as if these lifeless things have an agenda to make you emotional. Even cruel people who sometimes may have an agenda, it still is important to not take it personal. When we do, we are accepting the "emotional poison" that they are throwing our way. And negativity only creates more negativity. It's best to just keep a calm state of mind and let everything roll off.
  
     3. Do Not Make Assumptions. This is one that I believe so many people do on a regular basis without even realizing it. I know that I've caught myself quite a few times. It could be something as simple as road rage. There are a bunch of people that we criticise for not driving how we'd like them to, when we don't know the whole story. That person could be rushing to a relative's house, or the hospital.., or maybe they just really have to poop.. And I can respect that. And no body likes to receive an out-of-the-hat assumption about themselves. So get the facts first! It's a safe bet.
  

Nature calls at anytime. It waits for no one.

     4. Do Your Best. Last, but certainly not least, When we do our absolute best at everything we do, there is no possible way we can even let ourselves, or others, judge us. We often enjoy making ourselves pay for things we've done, over and over. We obsess about not being good enough, pretty enough, or smart enough. Like that time that you cried in the mirror because that Michael kid from school got the main role as Peter Pan in the play instead of you. When we know we've done our best, nothing can convince us otherwise. We will never punish ourselves again for no reason.
  
     That is pretty much the gist of it all. Don does go into a lot more detail about each of the agreements, how we came to learn our own, and how to do an agreement reboot on the brain. I highly recommend this book to everyone. It's such a good read.  I can't truly express how incredible this book is. You'll just have to stand in front of the barrel yourself. Let me know what you guys think! What are some of your own experiences with agreements you've made? I'd love to hear! Thanks for looking!