'' Our biggest fear is not death. Our biggest fear is taking the risk to be alive and to express what we really are. Just being ourself is the biggest fear of humans.''
~ Don Miguel Ruiz ~
Motivation Monday - Richard's Insight
Today's quote comes from a book I just read: The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. The Four Agreements are like personal promises we make with ourselves. They can help us to replace the standards, rules and beliefs that we inherited from our parents, our communities and society in general and instead to replace them with a kind of blueprint that allows us to be who WE really are instead.
The Four Agreements are:
- Be impeccable with your word - which leans to how powerful words can be, not only for ourselves but for others too.
- Don't take anything personally - which allows us to avoid taking on board anyone else's baggage.
- Don't have expectations - avoid jumping to conclusions and making judgement and assumptions based on limited information, be curious and ask questions instead.
- Always give your best - be the best you, you can be on any given day...some days you will deliver better than others, but don't be too hard on yourself if sometime you cannot always be perfect...but always give your best.
There is more to it than that and of course, living these agreements is actually a lot harder than it sounds.
The key point is to live your own life, according to your own standards and not be forced to live according to what others, even those with good intentions, would have us do.
I would like to add, that we do need to be responsible and respectful of others and it is not simply a selfish, 'I'm just gonna do my own thing' kind of mantra. It is based on having respect and in the words of the author, love for one another.
Boy, if we had love for one another and could follow these four agreements, we would solve a lot of the World's conflicts that's for sure!
But, we can only truly control our own thoughts and behaviour, so that's where we must begin.
Once we tap into this type of thinking, then we can start to express ourselves and live the live that is intended for us personally...to truly live and not be afraid.
The book does have a bit of a spiritual or 'fluffy' side to it, however, even with that, it does resonate and make a lot of sense. Imagine a life where we are not afraid to follow our own desires and dreams, regardless of what others may say, think or do? That's what today's message is all about.
Don't live in fear, be alive and live life to the full...just be yourself!
#MotivationMonday