Living With Integrity

I believe that life always has a way of bringing us what we need to learn, whether we are aware of it at the time, or not. Many times it is only with a little perspective that we can truly see what was there for us to learn. It is not that we don't know it, we may just need to learn it on a deeper level. I think that is what happens when we decide to live in a way that is more conscious, we are presented with life situations that help us do just that. One aspect of that is living with integrity. Do we live our life with personal integrity? A quick overview might say that we do. For the most part we tell the truth, treat others with respect, trust the goodness in others and do the things we say we will. It is important to do more than that...we must look at how we carry out integrity in our lives a little more closely. If we believe treating others with respect is important, we compromise our integrity whenever we lack respect in our relationships with others. In the same vein, we lack integrity when we allow others to treat us in a way that is disrespectful. The same thinking applies to telling the truth, trusting others and believing in the goodness of humanity. The thoughts, words and actions have to match to live with authenticity and integrity. But we are human, none of us can do this all the time. Therefore this idea of living with integrity, is something that takes conscious thought and action. Over the last several weeks I have had many opportunities to look at my own integrity. It is not always easy to stay in truth and respect, especially when that gets challenged, but staying with situations when they get hard, can lead to mutual understanding. If we can stay stay with a difficult situation, we bring a tremendous gift to that relationship. To live our life in aliment with our thoughts, words and deeds, we must look at our daily interactions. In this way, we have a new opportunity to define and refine, how we want to live. We can create the context for how we will treat others and how we want to be treated. Imagine...for just a moment...what our relationships would be like like if everyone gave conscious thought to their everyday interactions. Then imagine the ripple effect of that...this very idea going out beyond us, and how that would create a world that is more peaceful and joyful. Blessings to you as you live more consciously.
Sandy