Integrity means to be honest, ethical, and moral in your conduct. When you have integrity, you live according to a higher set of love-based moral principles such as honesty, mutuality, and collaboration.
Integrity is about doing the next right thing for the right reasons from moment to moment regardless of urges to do otherwise. It is about acting with virtue. It is about doing what is best for everyone, including yourself. When you have integrity, what you think, say, and do are in harmony. You walk your talk. You are trustworthy. You are reliable. Your insides match your outsides. Integrity is good intentions and inspire good actions.
You are part of the One Life that sustains you. It is a simple truth that, because of our interdependence, if you hurt others for selfish gain, you ultimately hurt yourself. This is why acting with integrity is good for you. If you put good out into the world, good comes back to you. If you put bad out into the world, that comes back to you as well.
When you act with integrity, you live for both yourself and for the One Life of which you are a part. You balance your concern for yourself with a concern for others. You refrain from acting with selfish disregard for others. You do not exploit others or manipulate others for your gain alone.
Integrity means practicing meticulous honesty in all your affairs. This includes being honest with yourself. Someone else may not know you did something wrong, but YOU know.
The only time you might withhold the truth is when it would cause harm. If you are like most people, you have lied to manipulate others to give you something you wanted or to avoid painful consequences of your unskillful behavior. This needs to stop. You need to take accountability for the consequences of your behavior. See that dishonesty separates you from others, causes guilt and shame, and ultimately harms you as much as it can harm others.
There will be times when you will be afraid of doing the next right thing. If you break something, you may fear admitting it because you fear someone’s angry reaction or that you might have to pay for the broken item. This is an example of where integrity calls upon you to own up to what you did despite your fear of the consequences.
To live with integrity is to live without regrets or remorse. This is healing. Integrity enhances your self-esteem, because your actions are esteem-able. Acting with integrity reduces shame and fear. When you act with integrity, you don’t have to look back over your shoulder, fearing some negative consequence of unjust behavior on your part. If you don’t break the law, for example, you don’t have to worry as much about getting arrested and put in prison. Integrity gives you peace of mind.
When you act with integrity, you commit to not causing harm. Because of your integrity, you put love for yourself and others before destructive gratification. This is healing.
Acting without integrity harms you in the long run. When you act with integrity, you enhance your well-being. This is why integrity heals.
