food, travel, art, poetry, rants and other musings
‘Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.’ -Maya Angelou I watched the Netflix documentary recently, featuring stories from Michelle Obama’s tour to promote her book Becoming. Both times I’ve read the book, I cried. Of course, I cried watching the documentary, as well. I believe her intention for […]
More“Doing your best means taking action because you love it,” Ruiz starts out by saying in Part 10, “not because you expect a reward.” We all do this, most notably at work, especially if our job is not our first choice for ‘what we wanted to be when we grew up’. As householders, we are […]
More“Each time you meet an old emotional pattern with presence, your awakening to truth can deepen. There’s less identification with the self in the story and more ability to rest in the awareness that is witnessing what’s happening. You become more able to abide in compassion, to remember and trust your true home. Rather than […]
MoreAs we truly begin to become aware of how often we make assumptions – about everything from why someone cut us off in traffic, to why our spouse may have left without kissing us goodbye this morning, or how we correlate someone’s physical appearance to their level of trustworthiness (or level of intellect) – it […]
MoreHow many assumptions do you make in a day? Do you know? I am not sure that I know how many I make. Even though I have been working on implementing the Third Agreement into my daily life for a few years now, I can honestly agree with Ruiz, in Part 9, when he says […]
MoreThe more I practice each of the Four Agreements, the more I seem to expect that others will do the same. The most common pitfall of the ego is to experience brief moments of delusions of grandeur – it gets you into real trouble with reality. Sometimes, I think that by conducting myself in a […]
MoreWe often wonder why people lie to us and are deeply wounded when they do. We cause ourselves needless suffering by constantly believing that everything people do is somehow about us. This leads us immediately into the third agreement: Don’t Make Assumptions as I have found the second and third agreement are closely tied to one […]
MoreAs I started to learn about the second agreement, in Part 7, it became quickly apparent that this agreement would be one of the most challenging for me. It challenged my ego’s conventional way of reacting. Things in life were not happening TO me, rather around me, yet this is how most of us are […]
MoreFor 30-Days, we focus our attention on how to implement the First of the Four Agreements. Day 1: Read the Blog Post on The First Agreement Day 2: Be aware of your same old reactions…. Day 3:“You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do.” ― C.G. Jung Day 4: Skip the Gossip….. Day […]
More” Listening does not take place unless you are willing to be changed. Otherwise, you are just waiting for an opening to talk.” –Alan Alda The most interesting thing about this statement from Alan Alda is that you won’t ever understand the quote until you truly know what it means to listen. Often times, […]
MoreLove is what you are; it’s the center of your creation. It’s your point of origination and can become your point of attraction as well. As Karl Menninger told his patients, and anyone else who was suffering and willing to listen, “Love cures, the ones who receive love and the ones who give it, too.” […]
More“Be Impeccable With Your Word: Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.” Words have power. Until you make this agreement, you will continue to waste your energy being […]
MoreHow many times has someone stated their opinion of you, or maybe of someone you know, and, whether you believe it to be true or not, you find yourself agreeing with that opinion? Often, we agree with others, even if we don’t believe what they say to be true because we want their acceptance. Ruiz […]
MoreIn her book, Comfortable with Uncertainty, Pema Chodron discusses the importance of humor and openness towards ourselves as we begin the work to undo all of the past agreements we have made in our lives that have caused us suffering. “Learning how to be kind to ourselves is important. When we look into our own […]
MoreWhenever I have been challenged that my choices or beliefs in life would land me straight in hell, I have always said that I can’t go to hell because I am already there. Ruiz reiterates this point in Part 3 of the Four Agreements as he discusses how the human dream, the dream of our […]
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