Don Miguel Ruiz & 4 Agreements worth reflection

Don Miguel Ruiz is a Toltec master who reminds us humans are conditioned to think and act based on systems of reward and punishment, external approval and rejection. 

To move beyond the image of perfection we create and imagine is out of reach, that causes us to reject ourselves  and judge others, Ruiz invites us to make four agreements within ourselves.  How many resonate with you? Why encourage new self-awareness? 

1) Be impeccable with your word.  Speak with integrity.  Say only what you mean.  Avoid using words against yourself or to gossip about others.  Use the power of your word in directions of truth and love. How often do you diverge? Where does this path take you?

2) Don't take anything personally.  Nothing others do is because of you.  What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dreams.  When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

3) Don't make assumptions.  Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want.  Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama.  With just this agreement, you can completely transform your life. 

4) Always do your best.  Your best will change from moment-to-moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick.  Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgement, self-abuse and regret.

George Bernard Shaw & 3 Reasons to be unreasonable

George Bernard Shaw quote from "Maxims for Revolutionists", Man and Superman (1903): "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

You might believe that pioneers, explorers, inventors and other non-conformists would all be unreasonable.  They may lead lives that go against your views of what is safe, possible, desirable, comfortable or comptible with your conditioning or genetics.  

Upon closer look, people viewed as unreasonable are the sort who "rock the boat,"  raise a standard, shatter a myth, challenge the status quo, and encourage others to stretch ther perception and imagination.  Take a look at three reasons to review 'unreasonable':

1) What do you gain from being unreasonable in your life?

2) How has hearing about unreasonable people affected positive change your life?

3) Why could they be some of your most powerful teachers and motivators?

5 Lessons to prompt you to reflect on how you treat people

Ask yourself how you react to the following ideas.  They are five lessons to prompt you to reflect on how you treat people.  Imagine yourself in the shoes of different people in each story.  Would it make sense to change any of your ways?  Its never too late...

1 - First Important Lesson - Cleaning Lady.

During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and breezed through questions until I read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?"

Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name?  I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade.

"Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say "hello."   I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.

2. - Second Important Lesson - Pickup in the Rain

One night, at 11:30 p.m., an elderly African-American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had  broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car.

A young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 60s.. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxicab.   She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man's door. To his surprise, a  giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A special note was attached.  It read:

"Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along.  Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband's bedside just before he passed away... God bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others."

Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole.

3 - Third Important Lesson - Always remember those who serve.

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him.

"How much is an ice cream sundae?" he asked.

"Fifty cents," replied the waitress.

The little boy pulled is hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it.

"Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?" he inquired.

By now more people waited for a table and the waitress was growing impatient.

"Thirty-five cents," she brusquely replied. The little boy again counted his coins.

"I'll have the plain ice cream," he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress returned, she began to cry as she wiped the table. There, neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies.  You see, he couldn't have a sundae, because he needed enough to leave her an appropriate tip.

4 - Fourth Important Lesson. - The obstacle in Our Path.

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way.

Then, a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. On approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone off the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After he picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand!

Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.

5 - Fifth Important Lesson - Giving When it Counts...

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare & serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister.

I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes I'll do it if it will save her." As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheek. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded.

He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away". Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her.

4 Ways you get what you think about

How you perceive yourself is reflected in your physical, emotional and other conditions.   You direct and determine your level of health by way of conscious beliefs.  Your creative energy ensures your life will always mirror what you believe yourself to be. Go figure!?

1) Consider the issue of guilt.  It may escalate to become physically manifested as illness.  This is meant to enable you to face and dissolve your sense of guilt, not prolong it. Yet, if you refuse to face guilt one way, it will manifest itself differently until you do.

2) Consider humans who die young. This sometimes relates to the fact they view old age as undesirable or shameful, and only consciously accept youth, illusions of beauty and dwindling energy.  Your beliefs about age will affect and emerge in your physical body.

3) Consider your views on aging. If you anticipate going deaf, you become hard of hearing as you age.  If you expect your eyesight to deteriorate from strain, it does. Such physiological changes shouldn't surprise you.  Every bodily cell listens to your beliefs.

4) Consider your beliefs generate emotions.  You will not understand your emotions until you isolate the underlying beliefs that cause them.  Anger isn't always negative and love isn't necessarily always positive.  The underlying motive to generate each feeling can contradict the feeling itself and infuse harmful energy you don't want. Reverse the trend.

Whenever you assume your conscious mind no longer directs your thoughts, you may wrongfully assume you are powerless in the face of external situations.  The free flow of your emotions will always lead you back to your beliefs.  Raising awareness of them will put you in touch with your sense of balance and empower you to heal those imbalances.

3 Reasons to listen to "that little voice"

How often do you question whether to acknowledge a voice you hear in your head? What about those gut feelings that defy your own logic? Maybe you assume listening to invisible signs suggests you should also be seeing little green men? Would that be so odd? The latter aside, would you not gain a lot from being more honest with yourself? Consider this;

1) What if conscience is a misunderstanding?  Ask yourself what your life would be like if you stopped creating a sense of guilt in situations that originally imply no punishment or retribution.  As past, present and future don't exist, mistakes don't involve penance. Otherwise, you could easily say it came before the incident that supposedly justified it.

2) What if human beings are intrinsically good?  Ask yourself if you accept your mind has free will.  As you have choices about how to consider your thoughts and actions, you can assume they are positive or negative. You can assume they simply are.  You set the point of reference and rationalize what will appease your ego.  You may also transcend it.

3) What if your views on cause and effect are misguided?  Ask yourself to reflect on karma and how you believe it influences your life.  As multiple existences are simultaneous and open-ended, your past is still unfolding in ways you don't recollect. Unless you choose to step outside the conditioning of your linear consciousness, you won't perceive differently.  You won't realize lives you have lived are not you, while they still are of you.