I have something to tell you that might offend you. In fact, you might take it personally. The truth is that taking things personally or having a high degree of Personal Importance is the maximum expression of selfishness. Hey, wait a minute! I think I just offended myself.
We are born as wild animals. We are then domesticated in a particular fashion. Depending on our specific process of domestication, we will acquire a sense of Self Importance that will either serve us or diminish us.
As we grow, the seed of Self Importance might grow and fester, or we might nip it in the bud. If we don't recognize the maleficent nature of taking things personally, we will devolve and allow the agreement that "everything is about me" to become ensconced. We will encounter frequent interactions with a kind of hell. We will let others control our perceptions of ourselves. Our internal voices will continuously remind us that "it's all about me."
When you take things personally, you find yourself in hell. You feel a constant need to defend yourself. You make mountains out of molehills. You become trapped by your own selfishness. You let the poison of other people's opinions pollute your perspectives.
The thousands of voices in our heads, or the Mitote, as the Toltec describe it, can inform us of malignant perspectives of ourselves that we take personally. We fret that "if only I had gotten up earlier, I'm such a loser," or "why can't I stay focused and be more disciplined? I'm not worthy of my position," or, 'I've failed at my diet again, why do I even bother?" When we allow these voices to affect our present, we are taking personally the false indictments we generate. We are addicted to suffering. We love to be the victim. We make ourselves the victim because then we are no longer responsible. We allow negative self talk to affect us. This becomes a perverse kind of self-inflicted selfishness.
When we practice the second agreement, we create freedom and peace of mind. It is liberating. We can exist in the middle of hell and be immune to its heat. Never take anything personally. Put it on your refrigerator. Make it your morning affirmation. Get it tattooed on your forehead. Whatever you need to do, but never forget it.
Photocredit: J. Kawski, La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain
