Things that make you go Om... By Angela Giacomelli: Integrity

Integrity... What does that mean to you?

I would say that most people would agree that someone with integrity is someone you can rely on their word.

Although, integrity can hold different meaning for each person. What may seem right to one person may feel wrong to another. That's when listening to your inner wisdom comes in handy.

I like to think of myself as someone who strives for complete integrity. Of course I fail sometimes, forgiveness of oneself is the key here. But what if you said you would do something and realize half way through that what you are doing is bad for your well being or doesn't meet your level of standards of integrity? Do you keep doing it because you said you would? Do you try and fix it?Or, do you quit all together?

These can be very confronting questions especially when you are conscious of the ripple effect you have when making choices.

Here are some questions an article in Yoga Journal (Wisdom by Sally Kempton) says to ask yourself when in this little pickle? I found them to be quite valuable...

1. What do the great wisdom teachers say?
2. What would a good person do?
3. What would give me the most joy in this situation?
4. How will this serve my highest desires and motivations?
5. What will align me with my true self?

I recently came face to face with a challenge within my own integrity. I had made a commitment with a colleague of mine and about one month of completion I realized it no longer served my highest self. I had complications with this commitment from the beginning but choose to continue any way simply because "I said I would" but by doing this I went against my highest self. At this point I knew my decision to quit would affect more than just my colleague. However, I still choose to walk away. Unfortunately it caused some conflict but I had to honor myself.

Looking back I can see how I could have handled the situation more gracefully but ultimately I made my choice based on question #4 & #5 above. When handling matters of integrity it can be quite tricky but I feel that handling oneself with care and love in these matters is the most important. As we all know we are our own worst critic. We will all fail at some point regarding integrity and we cannot worry about what others will think or say about it. It comes down to how we handle ourselves during these difficult decisions while being 100% accountable for our actions.