| Integrity
Coming soon in kit form.
Integrity is a difficult thing to
talk about. There’s an old Chinese saying
that goes something like, "Those that know
about it, don’t talk about it; those that
talk about it, don’t know it." Yet
I continue to realize how essential this value
is in my life.
When integrity is missing in a relationship
– any important relationship, be it with
family, a colleague or friend – it stops
me dead. I don’t want to go on. (Not always
a brilliant business move ... interferes with
a thing called cash flow.) But wouldn’t
life be simpler if we behaved in harmony with
our beliefs, less complicated if we acted from
our hearts and said what we meant?
Still, I wonder whether integrity
is an inside or an outside thing. Is it more important
to others that I have integrity, so that they
can depend on my consistency? Or is it more important
for myself? I do know that I’m unhappy when
my actions fail to mirror my beliefs and that
it’s an unhappiness which lingers. When
I can go through a day feeling in harmony with
what I say and do, then there’s a measure
of integrity.
Of course, staying true to my beliefs
is no easy thing, especially when my beliefs differ
from others. But they are mine and I need to honour
them. It is possible to live what I believe.
|
