* Sorting out the swirl of fact, belief, projection, weaknesses and strengths

Don Miguel Ruiz states four agreements between us and the world that can bring joy, satisfaction, health, good relationships and success to our lives. Stating these agreements as clearly as he does gives us the gift of facing them. When we face them, we have an opportunity to see how we do and do not bring these agreements into our lives on a regular basis. That gives us the opportunity to see what’s required to improve our lives. It’s a wonderful guide to identifying issues that can be explored and addressed in psychotherapy.

What follows are each of his agreements and the psychological issues that might be indicated in psychotherapy work when you have difficulty honoring them.

1. “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.
   

On your path to joy, be prepared for pushback. You are making time for reading, exploring, taking classes, attending seminars and concerts, writing and communicating with new people. You have disrupted the pattern of what was your ordinary day.

Others in your life may want to interrupt your set times for reading, walking, writing or visiting places in the community. You will need to defend your boundaries.

You may be the one who wants to postpone or cut short your explorations and new activities to revert to your old patterns. Moving on to your new choices is sometimes fun and sometimes frightening.

Your feelings of isolation, dullness, bewilderment, and fatigue can rise at any time. When they do, old choices rise up strong.

You may not recognize your path to joy yet. Now is your time to become a spiritual explorer in the pragmatic world.

The appearance and details of the path to joy are different for each of us, yet the pattern and method are similar.

To explore, start with these steps.

Choices exist in this world. Do you know what your choices are? Your path beckons.

First is your choice to either keep living as you are living or move toward freedom and change.

If you continue to follow your routine in a life that is unhappy, neglect your yearning and fulfill the expectations of others, you will maintain your status quo and gradually feel worse. If you can’t find your way to change, you may try to distract yourself with activities and substances or temporary and short-lived thrills.

When you emerge, you see nothing improved, and your life may have disintegrated more during your absence. If you move to free yourself, you disrupt the known system of your life. You might say that requires courage, perhaps more than you think you have.