{"id":1991,"date":"2014-08-11T07:34:07","date_gmt":"2014-08-11T11:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harbirzinc.com\/sandradawes\/?p=1991"},"modified":"2014-08-11T07:34:07","modified_gmt":"2014-08-11T11:34:07","slug":"living-with-integrity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harbirzinc.com\/sandradawes\/2014\/08\/11\/living-with-integrity\/","title":{"rendered":"Living with integrity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Authenticity and integrity seem to be buzz words these days, but what does it really mean to have integrity?\u00a0 No one\u2019s perfect, right?\u00a0 I checked online, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/integrity\">Merriam-Webster\u2019s Dictionary<\/a> defines integrity as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic<\/li>\n<li>an unimpaired condition<\/li>\n<li>the quality or state of being complete or undivided<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For the sake of this post, I\u2019m going to use all three definitions interchangeably as they relate to our actions and our words.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/harbirzinc.com\/sandradawes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Integrity.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-1992\" src=\"https:\/\/harbirzinc.com\/sandradawes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Integrity-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"Integrity\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a> We\u2019ve all have our moments of weakness where we give ourselves permission to do things that we know don\u2019t adhere to our moral code.\u00a0 Often it\u2019s due to an impaired condition that clouds our judgement.\u00a0 I know from personal experience that when I\u2019m not on my a-game and feeling stressed and overwhelmed (definitely not in a quality state, and my attention <em>VERY<\/em> divided), I haven\u2019t always said or done things that I\u2019ve been proud of.<\/p>\n<p>So how do we maintain our integrity during difficult or challenging times?\u00a0 By no means am I implying that we\u2019re all out there breaking the law because we\u2019re stressed out, however it can be tempting to look for the easy way out in challenging times!\u00a0 Often the easy way out is to blame others for our problems.\u00a0 Whether it\u2019s someone close to us, or world leaders, it can make us feel a lot better to distance ourselves from the problems we are encountering.\u00a0 Besides, why would we ever put ourselves through that kind of distress on our own?<\/p>\n<p>I believe self-awareness play a big role here.\u00a0 If we can\u2019t be honest with ourselves, who can we be honest with?\u00a0 We know when something doesn\u2019t feel right.\u00a0 The guilt or embarrassment we often feel after doing or saying something is an indication that we didn\u2019t act with integrity.\u00a0 The need to justify those words or deeds is also another indication that we don\u2019t feel that we\u2019ve acted in a manner that is true to who we really are at our core.<\/p>\n<p>When we act with integrity, we don\u2019t have to explain our actions or words to anyone.\u00a0 People don\u2019t have to like what we say or do, and we ought not to take it personally when they don\u2019t.\u00a0 As long as you are at peace with what you have said or done, the opinion of anyone else really is none of your business (and out of your control)!<\/p>\n<p>As a recovering people-pleaser, I know that I haven\u2019t always acted with integrity.\u00a0 I\u2019ve said and done things because it\u2019s what others wanted me to.\u00a0 Too much of that made me a passive-aggressive individual for a long time, but I know better now.\u00a0 This doesn\u2019t mean that I don\u2019t catch myself taking out my frustrations and moments of overwhelm on those nearest and dearest to me at times.\u00a0 What it does mean is that I\u2019m aware of why I\u2019m lashing out and am willing and able to admit when I\u2019m acting out and <em>apologize<\/em> for it.<\/p>\n<p>Living with integrity demands that we be mindful in all that we do.\u00a0 It asks us to take responsibility for where we are in our lives, and be aware of what\u2019s driving the things we do and say.\u00a0 I\u2019m not promising that it will be a smooth ride, however the benefits will have a long standing impact on all areas of our lives!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Authenticity and integrity seem to be buzz words these days, but what does it really mean to have integrity?\u00a0 No one\u2019s perfect, right?\u00a0 I checked online, and Merriam-Webster\u2019s Dictionary defines integrity as: firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic an unimpaired condition the quality or state of being complete or undivided For [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[494,502,745,746,747,537,245,511],"class_list":["post-1991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-thoughtoftheday","tag-authenticity","tag-embrace-your-destiny","tag-inner-truth","tag-integrity","tag-mindfullness","tag-sandra-dawes","tag-self-awareness","tag-taking-responsibility"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harbirzinc.com\/sandradawes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harbirzinc.com\/sandradawes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harbirzinc.com\/sandradawes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harbirzinc.com\/sandradawes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harbirzinc.com\/sandradawes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harbirzinc.com\/sandradawes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1991\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harbirzinc.com\/sandradawes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harbirzinc.com\/sandradawes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harbirzinc.com\/sandradawes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}