Being in Integrity

(c) 2010 Joan M. Newcomb

Being in integrity is a high value of mine.  To me it means walking your talk, being in agreement with your Expanded Self, being in alignment with Source, being your Essence self.

I respect teachers who are in integrity.  It doesn't always look pretty but they're walking their talk.  They're practicing what they teach.  Which can be a tough thing to do.  Your ego can get pretty inflated when the money starts rolling in and you have adoring fans that follow you from event to event.  It can be easy to play to the crowd rather than be true to your Inner Being.

We're not taught to be in integrity growing up.  In school and at home, we have to please the teacher or parent, get the right answers on a test, not question 'why' and certainly not attune with our inner promptings.

By the time you're an adult (and often before), you are so out of touch with who You are, that you don't know *what* you want (although you know what everyone else wants of you)!

When you start to turn within and respond from your inner Truth, often the shit hits the fan.  People get really pissed off you're not toeing the line.  *You* get really pissed off, when You wake up to how long you've been out of integrity with Your Self.  It's all part of the breaking-through process.

When you're lined up with your Essence Self, you feel really clear and expansive.  You know the right direction to go in.  It becomes easy to make decisions that would have paralyzed you before.  It also becomes easy to wait until you feel motivated to take action, to think for 24 hours before saying or doing something.  There's a sense of peace and acceptance and even joy, even if the circumstances of your life haven't appeared to change.

Being in integrity means:
-quitting the job you hate even if it brings in good money.
-saying 'no' to preserve your boundaries - even if your family or your group will be miffed.
-being true to Your Self rather than maintaining the status quo
-practicing what you teach
-doing the inner work rather than relying on externals (whether it's caffeine/alcohol, or other people)
-using discernment when following others' teachings (are *they* in integrity)?

But first you have to notice whether you're in integrity or not.  Are you?

How do you tell when you're in integrity?  It's not always clear from the outside.  Everything in your life doesn't suddenly become hunky dory.  You may still be dealing with money issues or relationship issues.  But you have an awareness of what you're going through.  You recognize you're peeling away the layers, you're working with your inner navigational system.

It takes courage to be in integrity when the outside world seems against it.  On the other hand, when you're in integrity, there's no other way to be.  You cannot not be True to your Inner Being, once you know how it feels.

Lining up with yourself doesn't have to be a radical process (although many people create it that way).  Take it one moment at a time, one decision at a time, one issue at a time.  A series of small course corrections can completely transform your reality.

Your assignment this week, should you choose to accept it, is to notice when you're in integrity.  When you're out, make the (tiny or big) shift to get back in.  And see what happens when you do!