Perhaps your perception of right and wrong comes from a religious belief? If so, why do you belong to a particular religion? Is it because you grew up with this belief? Perhaps you were introduced to religion later in life? Perhaps you have abandoned your faith? Either way, your religious beliefs are part of the reality you created for yourself. And this is where it gets complicated. If you talk to most people about their religion, they will all say that their religion is the “right” one. Who is right? What is the truth? To thoroughly examine the symbology that people use in their storytelling, you need to be skeptical about what is being communicated. It means agreeing with yourself, not naively buying everything you hear and looking behind the symbols. Listening in this way makes it easier to choose the answer. For example, you`ll probably want to ignore someone who tells you you don`t look smart enough or good enough. If you are a little skeptical, you will be better able to see that what they are communicating is only their relative truth and not an actual truth to respond to. Since you no longer have to worry about other people`s opinions of you, you will be freer to do what you want because you will feel immune to judgment.
For the rest, criticism of the Fifth Convention follows the same trend as the four agreements. Critics of both books argue that “agreements,” if followed without proper consideration, can be actively harmful. Blind to such a principle as “take nothing personally,” these critics say, can be interpreted as permission to ignore any outside criticism or to abandon self-confidence. Imagine all the skills you have learned in your life. Whether it`s talking, reading, or cycling, you`d have no idea about these things if you hadn`t practiced them frequently. Therefore, repetitive practice is essential if you want to incorporate the three chords into your life. Speak with integrity and only say what you want to say. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or gossip about others. Use the power of your Word towards truth and love. Every artist distorts the truth, but you don`t have to judge what someone says or call that person a liar. We all tell lies in one way or another, and not because we want to lie. It is because of what we believe; It`s because of the symbols we`ve learned and how we apply all those symbols.
Once you are aware of this, the fifth chord makes a lot of sense, and it can make a very big difference in your life. I can`t go into them all here, but I want to share the Ruizs` reasoning as to why we need new agreements with ourselves. It will also help us understand the first one. Here are my 3 takeaways from the Fifth Accord: Most of us think we would be happier if we had more symbols, more objects, more wealth. The truth is that our pursuit of happiness so often makes us unhappy because we become frustrated and discouraged. Sapiens revealed that much of what we have comes from the idea of a “shared imagination,” and happiness and freedom rest on this premise. What is happiness? Let us be clear. When it comes to being skeptical, people often have misleading theories about what skepticism and selfishness are. However, this does not mean that reality does not exist. There is no doubt about the reality. Some things are real and some symbols are real. However, what really matters is how we perceive these things, and this is where self-control comes into play.
Fun fact: You can`t find a child worried about their clothes, the colors to wear, or if that particular fashion accessory will match the suit. Happiness, like everything else, is determined culturally, socially, politically and economically. Happiness depends on the society we hold, our hormones and chemicals, the conflicts we face on a daily basis. When we ask ourselves why we are unhappy, it is sometimes because we have expectations about what it means to be happy. Where do these expectations come from? Everyone wants to express their point of view by telling stories about their experiences with the world. But how do you know which of the stories are true? By committing to the fifth agreement to be skeptical. But what if you became aware of how you used words against yourself? You could replace these words and write a new and better story about yourself. You could even go one step further and tell a beautiful story about yourself with impeccable words that bring you joy. However, it also proves that all human knowledge must be based to some extent on common symbolism. Unless at least one person agrees with you that the big brown and green thing is called a tree, or that there is vitamin C in oranges, or even that 1 + 1 = 2, you cannot call these things facts, let alone true. Once we have a basic understanding of the language, we begin to develop a sense of morality and ethics. We usually begin by learning “good and evil,” “good and evil,” and “reward and punishment.” In short, we learn behavior.
We observe the behavior, we buy what constitutes good behavior, we believe it and we agree with it. Rules work because they are universally seen. Parenting and teaching foster the belief that good behavior is rewarded and that consequences are often perceived unfavorably. We are told that there are “consequences for our actions.” In the Four Accords, Don Miguel described the sum of the uncontrollable elements of our lives as the source of our domestication. This includes all the habits, attitudes, ideas and behaviors that we, as innocent children, adopt from parents, mentors, friends and teachers. Miguel called it a “collective dream.” They know what society expects of us. The next time you look in the mirror, remember that what you see is what your mind perceives. This is not an absolute reality, because what you see in the reflection is not the same as what your mother, a dog or a bird sees. If you take this into account, you will take a step closer to the difference between reality and relative reality. We often experience fear and confusion because our body is at odds with what is going on in our mind. And as we get older, life becomes much more complicated.
The Fifth Accord advises us to seek our own truth, to discover who we really are, and to discover what is really important. This process boils down to understanding that we have built the world and the expectations we have of ourselves. We built beauty, success, performance, intelligence and so on. People are always trying to get your attention because through attention, they can download all the information.