Be Impeccable with your Word

I’m slowly reading The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. Mostly because a podcast I listen to did a read along, and I wanted to participate. She did one episode for each of the agreements. So I’m reading the chapter then listening to the podcast. I’ve only done the first agreement so far (that is why I say I’m slowly reading the book).

The teachings in the book come from a practice handed down in an ancient southern Mexico society called the Toltec. The premise of the book is that we all have beliefs that we learn from the adults around us. As children we believe everything adults tell us. When we agree with the information the belief becomes an agreement and is stored. Miguel Ruiz believes that adopting the four new agreements in his book will “create enough personal power for you to change the entire system of your old agreements.”

Agreement number one is 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.”

Here are a few of my thoughts about the first agreement:

• Impeccability means without sin. A sin is anything you do that goes against yourself. Anything you say, feel or believe that goes against you is a sin. Being impeccable is not going against yourself.
• When you are impeccable, you take responsibility for your actions, but you do not judge or blame yourself. Like Gabby Bernstein teaches, notice the thought, forgive the thought, think a new thought.
• Words have power.
• Gossiping goes against the first agreement.
• Watch how you speak to yourself and be aware of what others say to you.

“Be impeccable with your word. This is the first agreement that you should make if you want to be free, if you want to be happy, if you want to transcend the level of existence that is hell…use the word in the correct way. Use the word to share your love…beginning with yourself. Tell yourself how wonderful you are, how great you are.”

How do practice the first agreement?