Agreement Number Two

“…nothing others do is because of you”~Don Miquel Ruiz

I read the four agreements by Don Miquel Ruiz back in late 2013. His words have impressed me so much that they have become part of me. I have the agreements memorized. Working with them from one through four and from four to one and now in any order that sees itself fit to assist me with myself as situations arise.

I don’t have any of them mastered as of yet and I may never will. But I have made such progress at being better for and to myself. Lately agreement number two has been very much in my face.

“Don’t take anything personal. Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream.”

Initially after reading the agreements and taking them to heart, working with them in my every day life, yes, I absolutely took it as to not to take anything personal that anyone else was doing. The way he wrote it. The “other” is not doing anything because of you. The “other” is doing whatever they are doing because of who they are. So however they treat you or talk to you, is because of who they are, who they believe themselves to be in the moment. Okay, I got that. I actually really got that. I observe it now lots of times when I am around people. I can see it like a reenactment on stage almost.

But lately, I have taken a different twist on it. Obviously, if the shoe fits for the “other”, it also has to fit for me. Whatever I do or say is not because of anyone else, but because of who I am and the reality that I believe to be true in the moment. So this is how I am learning to work with this agreement, making the shoe fit my reality.

Anytime I run into a loop, anything that keeps repeating itself in my life, I stop. Finally. Gosh, how long did that ever take to grasp. Stay with me here, because you are doing the same thing. To yourself. When you are stuck in that rerun loop where you react the same way every time. Every dagone time. And you can’t figure out why sh@t can get so frustrating for you. Whatever the situation is that is causing you to get frustrated, stop, take a step back, and then take people and things out of that situation equation.

Remove one piece at a time. Take the person out of the equation. Would you still react the same way? Yes, I am telling you, most likely you will say yes. So it’s not the other person, it’s how you CHOOSE to react. Get it? And yes, I understand that your answer will be that it IS what that person is doing or saying that has you frustrated. But replace the person with any other person doing the same thing, and if you would react in the same manner, then it IS you, who chooses to react that way. Get it now? So it doesn’t matter who the other is that gets you frustrated. It’s how you choose to react or respond to the person or situation. You can remove yourself from that what triggers that reaction from you all you want. But what happens when it shows up again in your face? And you know it will. So the trick is to make the shoe fit to your reality. Changing whatever you believe about yourself to change the reality you choose to live in.