Models of Integrity

Are you living in integrity today? If your answer is “yes,” my next question is: Who were your demonstrator models of integrity?

Many of us as children knew deep down the difference between right and wrong. We also knew the difference between honesty and dishonesty. If you think back, you may have had an experience in your body which told you the difference between right/wrong and honesty/dishonesty. You also may have had people around you guiding you to do the right thing, and encouraging you to be honest.

Some of you, sadly, may have been misguided and got mixed messages about right and wrong, where doing right was actually not the good thing to do (and therefore, wrong). And, being honest (particularly about your feelings) was never rewarded so you learned dishonesty was actually the best policy.

If you learned wrong was right, and dishonesty the best way to get what you wanted, eventually you might believe this backward, twisted way of thinking as the way to be in the world. One big downside? Older, you become a guide that demonstrates wrong as right, and dishonesty as honesty. Then, others will follow you, thinking you know what is right and that you know what you are doing. This, we know, can be dangerous, as some leaders in history demonstrate.

This tangled way of being in the world is so much about fear, not to mention a mishmash way to get what you want. It is the opposite of a life of integrity.

So, are you up for the challenge of living in integrity? This may mean undoing some old beliefs and habits. The unraveling might be painful. That’s okay. Models of integrity exist in this world who have compassion and can help guide you. Living next to you, right now, these people carry the light by doing the right thing. These beacons understand the value of rigorous honesty and live by their word.

Or, maybe you are living a life of integrity right now, and feel in your gut and bones the difference between right and wrong and honesty and dishonesty. Perhaps, in your recovery, you practice and enjoy a way of life that is dependent on doing the right thing, and being honest in all your affairs. This, to YOU, feels right and good. It could be you are someone’s demonstrator model of integrity and don’t even know it.