“Be impeccable with your word”

“Be impeccable with your word” 

Don Miguel Ruiz wrote those words as the first agreement in his book The Four Agreements. He then added that it was the “first, the most important, and most difficult of the agreements“.   Why is it the most important and why is it the most difficult? The answer to both questions is because through our words we have the ability to create our world. For better or worse.

In the story of creation from the bible it is stated “In the beginning there was the word, and the word was with God, and the word is God“. Clearly there exists a creative element that links what we say and our experience of reality.   (Note: there is only a one letter distinction between the word “word” and world” ) But words themselves hold no inherent power. Meanings of words change and shift and evolve over time. Remember when “bad” meant bad and then it meant good? Or “cool” was a temperature and then it was, well, cool. Say the word “God” to people and you’ll get a bevy of reactions. The same word means different things to different people. Same with love, pain, president, and mother. But truth by definition is static. It in unchangeable. So these ever changing words mean nothing on their own. It is our interaction, interpretation, or experience of the words that give them meaning. We are the element that gives words the power of creation. But what is that force within us that has the ability to ignite the words, transmute them and thus animate our experience of reality?

 In Hawaiian "Ha" means “breathe life into“.  Breath is necessary for life. No doubt about that. In Hawaiian culture (as well as many indigenous cultures) it is believed that the breath holds Mana (power) and it is sacred.  So sacred in fact that mouth to mouth kissing was never done (kapu) except when someone was dying. Then there was an exchange of breath that passed the Mana to another.  Breath is believed to hold the power to create and following that concept it is our breath (life) added to words that gives life to the words.  It gives the words creative direction. But that is all the breath does. Give the words animation. Once animated however, what is even more important is the direction the words take. Our intention forges the direction. Our intention like an arrow sets the course for the structure of the world we manifest through breathing life into our words. Thus it is our intention that we must notice. It is our intention, not merely our breath,  that allows us to be active participants in our reality.

Think of chanting. Think of prayer. Think of mantra. Affirmation. These are the processes of focused intent forged through our breath meant to be a creative force in the world. To effect change in some way. So, when Miguel Ruiz says be “Impeccable with your word”  what we must be impeccable with is our intent. Impeccable. Literally meaning without (im) sin ( pecatus). So what’s the meaning of sin? That’s a charged word that has many interpretations but literally it means to "miss the mark”. To make a mistake that you were aiming for. To voice your arrow of intent in the wrong direction. To go against your truth in some way. So being impeccable with our word calls us to be alignment with our truth and  from this connected intention breathe life into our words.

Have you ever thought about the intent behind your words? How often do we actually take a moment to contemplate that.  So often in our busy modern life we are in a constant flurry of chatter.  We are on the cell phone, watching CNN, and reading the paper. We have our ipod in our ears. We are texting, while we are talking and checking our email. It’s as if we are afraid of what would happen if we allowed silence.


“Being impeccable with your word means not using the word against yourself”
~Don Miguel Ruiz

Because much like resentment (see my last blog for that) the poison we speak  is the one we swallow. The arrow we direct with our intentions is pointed at our own heart. When we gossip, when we belittle someone, when we lie, when we judge another, when we fight to be right we breathe life into our  words from this intention and we create our world from a place of fear. Then that is what we manifest in our reality.  We experience situations of division. We experience situations of separation. We experience strife, conflict, and discord.

But when we align our intent with our truth we come from love and then we breathe this intent into our words.  Then that is what we experience in the world.

So be silent for awhile for it is here our intentions speak the loudest.

"We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness.  God is the friend of silence.  See how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence.... We need silence to be able to touch souls".  ~Mother Teresa

 Listen to your own voice, your own words , and get clear about your intent. Think of your intent when you speak to others and perhaps more importantly think of your intent when you speak to yourself.  The words you say to yourself hold as much power to create your world as the words you say aloud. And we often believe ourselves without question. Much of what we say to ourselves is old, repetitive, and familiar but is it loving? What is the creative intent when we belittle ourselves, judge ourselves, and lie to ourselves. How does it change our health when our intent is animated from fear and we say

• bad things always happen to me  

• my neck is killing me

•  I get every a cold every year

• I’ll never get well

• I’ll never lose weight

• In two weeks I’ll have been sick a month

• I’ll take a break, eat better, sleep more etc. when I ..( pay off my taxes, my kids grow up, I get a new job…)

• It’s hereditary

What happens if our intent is based in fear? Our intention breathes life into a reality of separation from source and our world is created to be a reflection of the words we use.

“intention creates our reality.”~Wayne Dyer

But what happens when our intent breathes love into our internal dialog? When we connect with that part of us that is truth and we sing it's song? We infuse our words with the breath of  intention empowered with faith, hope, perseverance, and grace. We create a experience of inner and outer reality that reflects this. When we are in alignment with our soul and we are tapping into the innate part of us that allows an endless abundance of energy. This is the stuff of miracles.


 So with this intention breathe this into being

• My body heals quickly and easily

• Thank you

• I release any desperation and allow love to find me

• I am at peace

• God is in everything I see.

• There is nothing to fear.

• Everyone and everything I see will lean toward me and bless me. I will recognize in everyone my dearest friend.

• The power of decision is my own.

• I will be still an instant and go home.

So I ask you. What is your intention?What kind of  world do you want to breath life into?
Then say the words that reflect that....

‘A mana (amen in Hawaiian meaning...)

“Let the words fly free”