Wednesday, September 15, 2010

The book club is back

My book club has started up again. Yay! This time we're studying The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom. The premise of the book is that we don't get to choose our beliefs about the world, ourselves, or other people; instead, we're trained by the people around us to believe what they believe. The books says that we can change all that if we choose to live by the following four agreements:

  • Be impeccable with your words (speak with integrity, say only what you mean, and speak out of truth and love)
  • Don't take anything personally
  • Don't make assumptions
  • Always do your best

The book uses the word "agreements" differently than most of us do. Agreements are like beliefs or practices; they're the filters through which we see the world. so if you make those four agreements your core beliefs and structure your world that way, you'll be happier. I guess this is because you'll be substituting negative or limiting ideas for these positive ones. We'll see how that goes.

It doesn't really matter whether or not this book helps me see the world better and to be happier. I'll get something out of the book that will help me live my life better. Really, the best part of the book club is the other people in the group. I've been in groups with these people for almost four years now and I'm completely comfortable with them. I miss them when I don't see them. So that's why, no matter what book is being studied, I'll sign up for book club. And if I learn something while I'm there, so much the better.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

There are a lot of comments on the post from last week about the word Previvor. I think FORCE people found you. This might go along with what you said here about not making assumptions.

Chantelle said...

Oh, yeah, the FORCE people found me. I expect there's a message thread on their board about that post. I think I've made assumptions about FORCE - and I know people have made assumptions about me - and I hope that all that'll be cleared up through discussion in that post.