The power of a word is there whether or not you are conscious of it. ~ Sonia Choquette
It starts with me. Reading The Four Agreements together, my husband and I have committed to practicing them in our daily life.
The First Agreement
#1 is “Be impeccable with your word.” Be honest. Really honest. Kind of a Buddhist thing too. First do no harm. How will this word affect me? Him? Anyone who overhears this? I want to be the person that emits a positive message in my words. It’s simple, but not easy. Now where have I heard that before? This first agreement requires me to listen. To think. To know what I believe. Is this really what I want to say? Is it really what I believe?… Yes…no. Wait a minute. Back up…. Oh OK, I’ve got the words now.
Join me. We can back each other up.
Thank you, M.M., who first introduced me to The Four Agreements. M.M. was a client who taught me far more than I ever shared with her.
Next Up: Wordsmiths Who have Empowered Me
Ethel Lee-Miller blogs regularly about people, the power of words, and the writing life. She’s retired from professional writing gigs after 30 years of teaching, coaching, editing, and gathering writers to publicly share their work. She is the author of Thinking of Miller Place, and Seedlings, Stories of Relationships. In retirement she’s writing to inspire, to connect with folks, and for the pure enjoyment of it, and sharing stories at Odyssey Storytelling Tucson Tellers of Tales, and anywhere there’s a Zoom mic.
