Are You Living With Integrity?
I’ve been reading this book and came across this passage that left me feeling 🤯.
I thought I’d share it here so that you too can reflect on whether or not you are living with integrity.
Here’s the passage that really got me…
““Integrity means being whole, unbroken, undivided. It describes a person who has united the different parts of their personality so that there is no longer a split in the soul.””
Whoa!
If someone asked me a week ago if I was living with integrity, I would have said an emphatic YES, OF COURSE. Why? Because I recycle. I try to live my values and follow the golden rule.
After reading this definition, though, I’d be more reluctant.
Living with integrity means all of those things I mentioned, sure, but it also means I should be integrating the various aspects of my personality, not compartmentalizing to keep up appearances or spare someone’s feelings.
I get it, integrating all aspects of your personality is a privilege in the society we live in. People are quite quick to shame or cancel one another if they happen to have varying opinions. Most of us are all walking on proverbial eggshells so as not to cause any ripples.
But that got me wondering…maybe that is the reason why so many people struggle with mental illness. Maybe anxiety and depression are at least in part caused by not integrating all those essential parts of who you are, wearing masks depending on who you are around, compartmentalizing your feelings, and then only fully expressing them in places you have deemed safe (or not expressing them at all.) What a sad existence - one where we cannot fully express ourselves.
After reflecting on this passage, I have come to the conclusion that I would like to try and integrate those aspects of me so I no longer feel a “split in my soul”. Though I am already quite comfortable sharing the more shadowy bits of my personality, I am going to make an extra effort to celebrate the more positive aspects…out loud. I am going to be weird and silly around people I’m meeting for the first time and sink into my moodiness with those who are used to seeing me upbeat. I’m going to let my freak flag fly regardless of who is around, and continue to show up with kindness and compassion because that is my essential nature. I am going to wear my emotions proudly and stand in my truth. I am going to erect boundaries and then deliver consquences if those boundaries are not respected.
Will you join me?