Simplify and Amplify Your Life with the Four Agreements

 ‘Bhaiyya, you mentioned the book ‘The Four Agreements’ last week, said Rinku. ‘What’s it about?’

‘It’s about how we make many fear-based agreements with ourselves and complicate our lives,’ said Rakesh. ‘But by making the four agreements and practicing them, we can reclaim the magic in our lives. We’ve discussed three agreements – ‘Be impeccable with your word’, ‘Don’t take anything personally’ and ‘Don’t make assumptions’. The fourth agreement is – ‘Always do your best.’

‘You mean, really push ourselves all the time?’ asked Rinku.

‘Doing our best is doing just enough,’ said Rakesh. ‘Not overdoing or underdoing. If we try to be perfect, we cannot do our best because we judge, punish ourselves, feel guilty etc for not being perfect, which interferes with the process. We must understand that our best is different at different times and be gentle with ourselves.’

‘How do we know we’re doing enough?’ asked Rahul. ‘That we’re doing our best.’

‘When we’re doing our best we enjoy doing whatever we’re doing,’ said Rakesh. ‘Work will not feel like work. We act wholeheartedly, express fully and do things because we love doing them. We don’t do things out of fear of failure or for reward.  Another measure of doing our best is thatt, we accept ourselves fully, whatever the outcome. We don’t need others approval.’

‘But why should we do our best bhaiyya, if not for reward?’ asked Rahul.

‘Simply because we enjoy our life more,’ said Rakesh. ‘There’s no self-judgment, self abuse and regret. Our every action is about living, loving and being happy. We enjoy every moment of the process and by being so, improve our chances of rewards too. On the other hand, when we expect a reward we don’t enjoy the action and consequently cannot do our best.’

‘How do the other three agreements help us do our best bhaiyya?’ asked Rinku.

‘Good q,’ said Rakesh. ‘We’re in our ideal state to express ourselves when our word is impeccable, when we’re free of assumptions and not taking things personally. We love ourselves in that state and flow easily instead of judging, abusing ourselves and others, which drains our energy.’

‘Is it as simple as that bhaiyya?’ asked Rinku.

‘It is we who complicate our lives with our fear-based agreements,’ said Rakesh. ‘The four agreements simplify and amplify life. We’re here to be happy, to act on our unique ideas and to express ourselves without fear. Taking action is being alive. Make everything a ritual, enjoy every action, small and big, and the most mundane acts of our lives become grand performances.’

Pro Tip: Always do your best. Enjoy expressing yourself and taking action without fear. When you do your best you enjoy the process, enjoy life fully.  

 

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