Living a Life of Integrity
Integrity. It’s a nice word isn’t it? But have you ever really, really thought about integrity as it applies to your own life? It becomes a bit more scary when we do that because it begins to hold us accountable to ourselves, our values, our commitments and our beleifs. It begins to make us think about:
What we truly want to represent.
How we want to show up in the world.
Who we are as our authentic selves.
What we do when no one is looking.
You may feel some resistance coming up, some fear, even some vulnerability as you’re reading this, but know that when we decide to bring integrity to the forefront of our lives, we can begin to open up a whole new way of living. It’s as if there is a new lens on life which shifts our perspective in ways that aligns with our hearts. This new perspective may mean doing the hard things such as speaking up when things don’t quite align, deciding how we react to certain circumstances, setting boundaries around certain people or habits that are hurting us, owning up to our faults and fears, and being open to change.
But by sifting through and taking notice of who we are and what we want, we can begin to utilize courage within our integrity. This means that even when things are new to us, even when they are hard or uncomfortable, we know that when we are aligned with our integrity, we can be courageous and move bravely forward. We can begin to acknowledge fear and instead of running from all the things that cause us fear, we can begin to face it, speak to it and work alongside it.
Integrity helps us to align desires with our values despite fear.
So, a few questions to think about…
When you think about this word “integrity” what is coming up for you?
Can you recognize any areas where you are most OUT of integrity? How is that impacting your life (or the lives of others around you)? Where do you feel most in-line with integrity?
Can you think of a few sentences that would describe what it looks like to live a life of integrity?
What needs to come to the forefront of your life and what needs to drop off? What needs to shift a little bit?
What would being fully integrity with your life FEEL like?
These are some great thoughts to come back to when you feel stuck about a situation or decision or just need a personal check-in. Here is a print-out you can use to write out what living a life if integrity would look like for you. Feel free to hang it up, tuck it into your planner or just keep it nearby as a reminder.
