By Dr. Sandy Islands for Conch Color
Integrity is truth in action. It’s the quality of living our truth in everything we think, say and do. The journey of self-reflection must include the practice of being honest with ourselves first. It’s been said that even if there were no God, the universe could flourish on the foundation of Truth alone. Webster defines integrity as “wholeness ─ an undivided, unbroken completeness ─ a totality with nothing wanted.” Only good can come from aligning ourselves with the truth. No one or no thing can ever be excluded from the truth. People who believe that their truth is the only truth are living in a consciousness of limitation. When we act with integrity, limitation does not exist. There’s no greater purpose in life than living in the highest awareness of the truth that we know.
In my personal consciousness journey, I’ve gone through many stages of dishonesty only to arrive in my 50’s mostly unafraid of being true to myself. As a teenager, I lied all the time until I started getting caught and felt the devastation I’d caused the recipients of my lies. Haven’t we all tried to “get away with something?” Do we ever really “get away with anything?” I recently purchased some eye drops at a local store. When I got home, my family put the groceries away. The drops were no where to be found. I assumed they didn’t make it into my bag. The store believed me and graciously replaced them. A few weeks went by and I found the original drops tucked away on a shelf where I would never have put them or looked for them. I returned to the store to pay for them. The manager was shocked, yet appreciated my gesture, as if this had never happened before. Practicing this level of integrity makes us feel good about ourselves. It’s saying to the universe that we have faith in its boundless abundance, so we don’t need to be dishonest.
In relationships, how many times do we silently think, “I just won’t say anything?” We fear the reaction our truth may bring. Yet, each time we withhold our true selves we are living a lie. Instead of letting our friends and loved ones know who we really are, we drain our energy trying to be who they want us to be. In turn, we fall in love with the qualities we assign to people and blind ourselves to who they really are. Then, when the blinders lift, we’re shocked and disappointed. The truth is we’re only disappointed by our own expectations. It’s impossible to expect life to go our way and accept that life is exactly as it’s supposed to be, at the same time. In order to undo our early programming we can’t just think ourselves into a new way of living ─ we have to live ourselves into a new way of thinking. It’s never too late to be honest and act with integrity. Hindsight is twenty-twenty vision.
I was humbled recently by a client who missed an important obligation. When confronted, instead of making up something to sound good or avoid the unknown consequences that could have been imparted, she merely said, “I forgot.” I thanked her for her honesty and courage. Standing up for her truth was more important than fearing what my reaction may have been. Her integrity gained my respect. Doesn’t life deliver lessons for just this purpose? Every moment we attract opportunities to act with integrity. Let’s discover the peace and satisfaction that living our truth can bring and that falsehood can only imitate. The truth will never betray our trust. In fact, living with integrity will always set us free.
Thank you for your positive response and feedback. Please write to Dr. Sandy Islands at sandyislands@hawaii.rr.com .