The Four Agreements Don Miguel Ruiz Analysis

Ever since the existence of civilization, a fine boundary exists between human’s self-motivation and the expectation of social mechanism. As society progresses, this boundary is being gradually pushed against the will of individuals and favors the social construct. Unlike how people in the past were often inspired by their individual desires and goals, members of the new generation develop a perception of success that is heavily bounded by society’s expectations. Nonetheless, there are still individuals who are also motivated by their own values and dreams. These people are willing to step outside of the realm of ‘standard success’ and strive for what constitutes as success in their opinion. The following texts- “Project Classroom

The Four Agreements is a “Toltec Wisdom book” written by Miguel Ruiz. Miguel Ruiz is a Mexican author who is best known as part of a “New Age” movement which binds ancient teachings with spiritual enlightenment. Ruiz is known as one the most spiritually influential peoples alive in 2014. The Toltec religion (or culture depending on how you view it), originated in Mexico in around 900 CE. Aztecs viewed the Toltecs as their predecessors and think that Toltec-ism is the essence of civilization. While Toltec teachings can be spiritual and eye opening for some, historians believe that majority of the teachings and stories are all mythological and not so real.

In “Losing is Good for You”, Ashley Merryman instills the idea that society celebrates the essence of success that children achieve in any aspect of their life whether they deserve it or not. Merryman further explains that by celebrating success or, more importantly, the idea that every child is a winner, society takes away the fundamental ideas of hard work. Merryman states that as society limits the opportunity for children to experience failure, this leads to the destruction of the core beliefs of what is the true meaning of winning is and undermines overall determination, and it lowers the desire for children to work hard.

“Do not be concerned about the future; keep your attention on today, and stay in the present moment. Just live one day at a time. Always do your best to keep these agreements, and soon it will be easy for you. Today is the beginning of a new dream.”

Society has tried to achieve perfection in many ways, almost since the beginning of humanity, and it is almost impossible so many attempts fail and cause severe consequences. In “the perfect match” by Ken Liu, short story and “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, short story. Perfection is people ignoring what really matter. People have lost their identity, they are not unique anymore because society is limiting with an idea that what is not accepted or normal is not perfect.

Don’t make assumptions is the 3rd agreement in Ruiz’s book, The Four Agreements. This talks about the problem of our everyday assumptions. We believe they are the truth and could swear they are real even though we have no idea. We make assumptions about others on what they are doing and thinking and take it personally. They often end up causing problems and hurting relationships. We make assumptions more than we think, even about ourselves. On our way to class we open the door and expect to see our classroom and other students rather than a black hole. Ruiz isn’t talking about these when he says don’t make assumptions; you can expect not to fall through every door you open. He is talking about when we are texting and someone isn’t replying

“Competition was the cause of many social problems, causing good people to behave badly.” Were the words of Walter Rauschenbusch. Therefore, without the individual thought and behaviors which are just as important as abiding by the societal expectations, we cannot be the best humans that we can be.

Society experienced to achieve perfection in many ways, almost since the beginning of humanity, and is almost impossible so many attempts fail and cause severe consequences. In “the perfect match” by Ken Liu, short story and “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, short story. Perfection is people ignoring what really matter. People are not unique anymore because society is limiting with an idea of what is not accepted or normal is not perfect. Societies’ desire of perfection makes people go desperate and feel alone.

When you strive for perfection, failure is inevitable. Some things are unattainable, and a perfect appearance

After reading The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz I realized I’ve been living dreams of other people in my life and not my own. It was decided early on what I should do, what’s possible and what’s not. Starting at birth we are told what to think by our parents, schools, and church. Subconsciously, we have made agreements with them to live our life according to their rules. Don Miguel believes that these agreements are self-limiting and shares four agreements that if we adapt into our lives we will reach true peace and happiness. The book made so much sense to me, but the hard part is to actually commit to living out the four agreements. In short, the four agreements are listed below:

In fact, this theory proposes that, “to live is to feel inferior” (Mosak 1995). However, when the individual begins to act inferior rather than feel inferior, the individual is engaging in “discouragement” or the inferiority complex (Mosak 1995). “To oversimplify, the inferiority feeling is universal and ‘normal’; the inferiority complex reflects the discouragement of a limited segment of our society and is usually ‘abnormal’” (Mosak 1995). This theory views the healthy and “ideal” individual as one who engages in life experiences with confidence and optimism. “There is a sense of belonging and contributing, the ‘courage to be imperfect,’ and the serene knowledge that one can be acceptable to others, although imperfect” (Mosak 1995).

“The secret is here in the present. If you pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it. And, if you improve on the present, what comes later will also be better.”

In the essay, Competition and happiness by Theodore Isaac Rubin, the author talks about how competition brings the worst performances from the people. People tend to make others the central figure rather than themselves and ignore the self development, which weakens their self- identity. Competition is like a blade that is sharpen every generation and then passed to the next generation. Since people focus only on winning or losing and not on learning, they feel lost and hopeless in less competitive environment. Competition brings out the best performances from the people by motivating to do better beyond their capabilities and allowing them to thrive for happiness and advancement.

As Emerson perceived the world, “Man postpones or remembers; he does not live in the present, but with reverted eye laments the past, or, heedless of the riches that surround him, stands on tiptoes to foresee the future. He cannot be happy and strong until he too lives with nature in the present, above time” (“Self-Reliance” 833-834). Even if a man finds himself with both self-trust and originality, he may never realize his true potential if he is preoccupied with past events or future fortunes. Emerson finds these obsessions to be utterly useless: “Discontent is the want of self-reliance; it is the infirmity of will. Regret calamities, if you can thereby help the sufferer; if not, attend to your own work, and already the evil begins to be repaired” (838). In contemporary society, a willingness to “live in the moment” is highly regarded, especially among youth, yet this acceptance seems to wane with age. Nevertheless, excessive anxiousness and nostalgia are a waste of the potential that can be realized when the truths of the present are

Many women will participate various forms of cosmetic and body sculpting to reach their desired appearance. Other women may even develop an eating disorder in order to lose weight. Both of these actions are extremely harmful to the human body in that they put the body under extreme stress and that they are life threatening. In Western Society, more and more young women are affected by an eating disorder or have undergone cosmetic surgery. It has been shown that “up to 20 percent of people with serious eating disorders die from the disorder” (WVFV, pg. 230). If people did not feel so obligated to reach a level of perfection in order to feel accepted by society then the numbers of how many people die from eating disorders or cosmetic surgeries would not be as high as they are today. How can we lower these numbers?