The Fifth Agreement

I have been reading a lot of "self help/new age" books. It is nice to start reading books like The Secret, The Power of Now and others to find that I have already figured out most of the story on my own!

My most recent endeavor has been The Four Agreements. The gist of the book is that humans are not afraid of death, they are afraid of life. They spend all their time thinking instead of doing - see it is sounding familiar isn't it?

One of the main reasons we are not living our lives is that we are worried about what others think of us. We spend all our time pleasing others. I recently fell into this trap. My views of my blog decreased substantially and I started to question if I should continue to publish my journaling. I did get some reassurance that I should continue writing, but to be honest it did not make me feel any better. I didn't know why it didn't make me feel better. Doesn't praise always make people feel better? Apparently not!

As I continued into the book and reached the 4th agreement I once again found myself on the pages of the book. The 4th agreement is about always doing your best. Sounds simple doesn't it? Try your hardest and you will be happy. Unfortunately it is not that simple. According to the 4 Agreements you can never do your best if you don't forgive.

Like a wound, every time someone touches your wound it hurts. The person who touches your wound may not be the person who caused it, but they receive all your anger because they touched your sore spot. Forgiveness is not complete until you have no emotional reaction to the person who caused the wound.

Interesting! Something I can now strive to achieve. Something tangible, concrete, and clearly defined. I have to believe that one day I will achieve this goal. Until that day I will continue to write.

Peace