Integrity: Adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.; the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished.
Curious about the definition of integrity, I looked it up and discovered the above definitions. I’ve been curious about integrity because of some things I’ve been witnessing for quite some time now. There are several people whom I love dearly and judge to be seriously out of integrity in several areas of their lives. They play games with money, relationships, sex and practice the form of truth-speaking that looks like: “what they don’t know won’t hurt them.” All of them have said to me at one time or another, “I’m just doing what it takes to get done what needs to get done.”
Recently, I was speaking to one of these people, “I judge you to be SO out of integrity in so many areas of your life. You lie so often, you no longer know what the truth is. You cheat. You make insane, sometimes illegal, choices with your money and, yet, you always land on top. How can you fly so directly in the face of universal balance and still make it work for you?”
His answer: “I don’t know what you’re seeing, but I AM completely in integrity with every choice I make.”
That stopped me short. And the wonder started rolling in. Here are some of the things that I’m wondering about and I would love any feedback or information you may have…
*How can someone whom I judge to be blatantly dishonest feel like they are completely in integrity?
*I understand that my decision of “their” integrity is based on my own life experiences and is running through my filters and the expectations I hold for myself. Is it truly possible that people’s life experiences can create a totally different definition of integrity than the one I live within?
*How can integrity, with that concise definition above, be that flexible and provide the space to accommodate such a swing in the pendulum?
*Can I be holding myself back from creating money magic because I hold myself to too high of a level of integrity?
*Is there such a thing as “too high” or “not high enough” of a level of integrity?
*Can a strict code of ethics create limiting beliefs?
*I expect a fairly high level of integrity from myself and it’s easy to become frustrated when faced with a choice that would be easier if I didn’t expect so much of myself. Is it possible that integrity can become a sneaky mode of beat up?
*Can a person reprogram their integrity level – whether to raise or lower it – and be able to live within the new paradigm?
*Is it possible to have high integrity in ALL areas of life AND have money?
*Where does integrity come from?
*How is integrity interlaced with genius?
