The Four Agreements 2/5

The Second Agreement: Don't Take Anything Personally. This is Part Two of a five-part series with reflections and meditations on each agreement based on the book: "The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz.

Transcript

Welcome to this meditation about the four agreements and number two,

Don't take anything personally.

Get yourself comfortable.

You can take a seat or lay down.

Take a big breath in and a big sigh out.

Take five more breaths and get settled into your body.

Get settled into your seat.

Start to let the inhale and the exhale let you arrive to this present moment.

And allow yourself to connect to this lesson today,

The second agreement,

Don't take anything personally.

So there are three main points I'm going to bring into this meditation today.

The first one is you take it personally because you agree with whatever was said.

And that could continue to whatever was said,

Whatever you read,

Whatever you heard,

Whatever you saw,

Whatever you experienced.

And for me,

One of the most powerful self-inquiry words,

The three words which I probably use the most are is it true?

So if there is this sense of taking it personally,

Because you are believing that there's some truth into what they said or what you heard or what you saw or what you read,

What you're experiencing.

Today,

We're going to practice connecting to the three words.

Is it true?

Take a long deep breath in and a long deep breath out.

You can place your hands on your heart if you choose,

Or you can relax your hands on your knees with your palms up,

Your palms down.

Just choose any position that allows you to feel comfortable as much as possible,

Relaxed in the body.

And to support this intention,

Don't take anything personally.

Let's practice being in the habit of asking,

Is it true?

So in a situation when you're reacting and taking something personally,

Pause and check in with yourself and ask yourself,

Is it true?

And sometimes it's,

Is it really true?

And is it really,

Really true?

And maybe even,

Is it really,

Really,

Really true?

Take yourself out of any drama.

Take yourself out of creating stories or making assumptions.

So we're setting the intention for tools.

So we don't take anything personally.

And now reflecting on the words,

Is it true?

Are you bringing to mind something right now that you might be taking personally or something that you might have a habit of taking personally in your life?

Is there something about the situation or whatever brings to mind or the body or the sensation,

The thought to take it personally?

Is there anything about it that might not be true?

So notice what are the thoughts,

What are the assumptions that you are making,

That that situation is all about you or all about me,

Me,

Me.

Ask yourself,

Is it true?

Is it really true?

Is it really,

Really true?

And really,

Is it really,

Really,

Really true?

Notice,

Observe the breath.

I'll watch the time one more minute,

Creating the habit of checking in and asking,

Is it true?

Take a long deep breath in and a long deep breath out.

What did you notice?

What came up for you?

If you have a journal,

Maybe writing down in your journal,

If you would like,

You can even pause and grab a journal.

And how could it benefit you?

How could this support you and not taking things personally by pausing and asking yourself,

Is it true?

And then the last section that I want to share from Don Miguel Ruiz's book.

He shares,

You will find that you don't need to trust others as much as you need to trust yourself to make the right choices.

You will find that you don't need to trust others as much as you need to trust yourself to make the right choices.

Take some time reflecting on those words.

What does that bring to mind?

And for you,

What does that have to do with taking things personally?

And how profound could that be for you?

To release the need to trust others,

Trust others for validation,

To trust others for making choices,

Thinking that their opinion might carry more weight than your own,

Your own inner listening,

Your own intuition,

Your own inner wisdom.

So through the practice of not taking things personally,

You will find that you don't need to trust others as much as you need to trust yourself to make the right choices.

So a couple of things in here,

There's actually quite a meaty,

Actually quite a meaty sentence in here.

You don't need to trust others as much as you need to trust yourself.

So just ask yourself,

Do you have a trust in your opinion,

Your thoughts,

Your choices,

Your opinions?

Or do you often seek the opinions of others to make a choice?

It's like almost like you're afraid to make a choice without thinking you need to call a friend or dial a friend to get validation that you made the right choice.

So let's take a couple of minutes to reflect and meditate on trusting your intuition,

On trusting yourself,

Trusting your own inner wisdom.

Get yourself comfortable again,

Whether you're seated or laying down.

And let's take a deep breath in and a big breath out.

Your hands might be resting on your legs.

If you're laying down,

They might be resting on the sides on the floor on your bed.

Or you can place your hands again,

On your heart.

And just take some time to connect yourself and notice and inquire of yourself.

It's like how much do you trust your own opinion?

Getting in the curiosity.

It's like how often do you feel like you depend on others,

Their opinions,

Their words,

Their knowledge,

For you to make your own choices.

And now consider this affirmation.

Breathe in,

I trust.

Breathe out,

Myself.

It's simple,

And yet repeating.

Inhale,

I trust myself.

I'll do it with you again three more times.

Inhale,

I trust myself.

I trust myself.

One more time with me,

I trust myself.

I'll watch the time.

Repeat on your own,

Out loud,

Or a whisper or silently.

One more minute.

Take a big breath in and a big sigh out.

Repeating one more time.

Inhale,

I trust.

Exhale,

Myself.

And maybe pause,

Grab your journal,

And reflect on anything that might have come to mind,

Any aha moments.

How does trusting yourself or not trusting yourself,

How is that related for you to taking things personally?

And how can you experience not taking things personally by this practice of trusting yourself,

By fortifying,

By using this intention,

By bringing this awareness?

Bring the awareness of asking yourself,

Is it true?

And then practicing the affirmations,

I trust myself.

How those two affirmations,

Repeating,

Is it true?

I trust myself,

Can be powerful tools to support the intention to not take things personally.

The final part of this meditation is to bring in compassion,

Compassion towards self,

Compassion,

And patience,

And allowing yourself to be in the practice.

Especially if you have a habit of taking things personally,

There might be certain situations or with certain people that you routinely find yourself taking things personally.

And it's not going to be overnight for most of us,

When all of a sudden,

After one meditation,

After listening to one episode,

You may,

You may be that person,

That cold turkey,

You're not taking it personally.

And if it's a practice,

Just like anything else,

It's like we get it once and then oh,

We slip off and then you know,

We pick ourselves up.

That's the typical journey,

The up and down of the valleys and the peaks.

So we're going to end this with compassion.

May you bring compassion towards self,

Patience,

And allow yourself to be human.

Allow yourself to experience.

This is a process just like any conditioning of a new muscle,

A new practice,

A new way of thinking.

And you could be creating a new habit and breaking a habit that's really,

Really ingrained that was subconscious that you don't even know you have been engaging in until today,

Until this awareness of taking things personally.

And let this be a breakthrough,

A little light bulb.

It's like,

Ah,

I don't have to take it personally any longer.

All right,

Let's breathe in and take a big sigh out.

Release anything you need to let go of.

You invite compassion towards yourself as you journey in this practice,

As you commit and write it down in your journal,

Write it down on a piece of paper and post it on your refrigerator.

Don't take anything personally.

Allow yourself to see those words in your mind.

Allow yourself to cultivate a new habit and taking baby steps one day at a time.

Don't take anything personally.

And don't even take yourself personally if the next time you take it personally and it's okay.

It's like cut yourself some slack.

It's all good.

Jump back up on that horse.

And we allow it to be okay.

It is what it is.

And repeating to yourself.

I invite with an inhale,

With an exhale,

Compassion and patience.

I invite compassion and patience.

I invite compassion and patience.

Repeat it as a whisper silently.

One final minute.

Now watch the time.

Repeating I invite compassion and patience.

Take a big breath in and a long sigh out.

If your eyes are closed,

Slowly open.

Flutter the eyelids softly open.

See what you see.

See with your mind's eye.

Maybe grab your journal,

Reflect,

Notice,

Pay attention and commit to the second agreement.

Don't take anything personally.

Thanks for being here.

Until next time.

Reviews

Thank you for this practice. Wow what a simple question, “is it true” loved this practice and insight. As with #1 the flow was good, pauses for reflection was good and the repetition of the affirmation was good it really let things resonate. Well done.

💖thank you💖

Thank you for this meditation 😊🙏🏾💕

This is so WONDERFUL! Really helps me to see things differently. Shows me how much power I have given to others. Many thanks. Namaste

The ending where it’s mentioned I’ll watch the time is distracting. For someone like me, it takes me out of that transported state and has me remembering there is time. Like I am instantly back in reality without finishing where I was going with my meditative thoughts.

✨Thank you so kindly for that connection
Namaste 🌸🙏🏼❤🌠