the soul’s journey • with dixie clark
integrity
integrity
“Integrity gives you the confidence to be bold and to do the things that will produce successful results, although the results may not always be in the mainstream. To be the same as others is not always the key to success, nor is it necessarily to be different. The choice of integrity is to go with the sound of your own drummer. How will you know if that sound is for you or deceptively against you? If you are thinking, speaking, and acting from that inner place of integrity, the chances are excellent that your choices will support your success and that you will be expressing care and consideration for others at the same time.”
We need to be careful about not living our lives by other people’s opinions and values. We need to be vigilant to not let anything or anyone contaminate that place of innocence and truth within us.
When we get pulled out of our integrity, we abandon ourselves in order to feel accepted, loved, to attain success by any means. We believe the key lies in other people or things outside of ourselves. There are times we take what we think is our integrity and turn it against ourselves through judgment. We can go into a pious place of moralizing, believing we’re right and others are wrong, so that makes us a bit better than them in our opinion. Being in judgment of ourselves and others, no matter what the behavior, is not being in our integrity. It is simply us being in judgment. Our soul, which carries our integrity, holds no judgments….only loving and joy.
– John-Roger Wealth & Higher Consciousness
When I think about someone who has integrity, there are several qualities that come to mind: honesty, reliability, accountability, courage, honor, self awareness. When I think about coming from a place of integrity, it means that I am connected with a deeper part of myself and am allowing myself to be guided by that wisdom. That know place of knowing what is for my Highest Good in each situation. And, on those many times when I miss the mark, being in my integrity means I love myself anyway. • Integrity is not something we learn. It is an inherent quality within all of us. Being in our integrity opens us to our soul energy. When we are in that place of integrity, we stand in the truth of who we are and stay in our loving center. • Integrity means holding ourselves accountable for what we do and don’t do. • Integrity means standing in the face of betrayal and not shutting down our heart or becoming bitter. • Integrity means hearing the judgment or ridicule of others and doing what we know is right for ourselves anyway. • Integrity means knowing that we are no better or no less than anyone else and acting accordingly. • Integrity means knowing that we don’t hold the market on the Truth or what’s Right. It means we only know what’s true or right for ourselves and we live by that. • Integrity means being in a place of acceptance of how the soul of another is learning this lifetime and not getting into judgment or gossip. • Integrity means having the courage to live life fully, honestly, with 100% participation.
There is so much negativity in the world that surrounds us. So much negativity that’s been conditioned within us that we carry around. Because of this, it’s easy to get pulled out of our integrity and into these lower levels. We need to remember that negativity is not stronger than our Soul. It’s just that we often give our power away to it.
There are other “voices” that will attempt to pull us out of our integrity. The voice of immediate gratification, of physical pleasure, of avoidance, of success at all cost, of doing for others and ignoring ourselves. These voices can be stronger at times than the voice of our integrity. We all need to be aware of what voice is guiding us. Throughout the day we need to move around inside, past all the conditioning and judgments and “shoulds,” until we find that sweet and powerful place of integrity that’s filled with love. This is like an internal guidance system that can help us stay centered. One that we can access at any time. Get into a place of stillness and find that place of integrity within you now. Focus on your breathing and allow yourself to expand into this energy. And, while you’re coming from this place of integrity, ask yourself:
How can I bring this energy more fully into: • My relationships with others • My job • My finances • My relationship to myself If we have the intention each day to live our lives with integrity, we may notice some life patterns beginning to change. We may notice that we have the courage to follow through with Divine inspirations we receive to take action in some area. We may notice an increased ability to say no to requests that are not in our best interests. We may notice ourselves holding ourselves accountable for what we do and don’t do, without judgment. We may notice that we are loving and accepting all parts of ourselves and are making taking care of ourselves a priority, not just an afterthought. We may notice that we’re living our life from a place of soul awareness. Now, that’s integrity. m
peacock • the sign of integrity
Dixie Clark, MS, MSS, LpC is Director and co-founder of Morning Star Center, a holistic wellness center. a licensed counselor and ordained minister, she holds a masters’ degree in both counseling and spiritual science and is currently obtaining her doctorate in spiritual science. With over 26 years experience in mind/body therapies, she combines psychology and spirituality to help people release emotional blocks, heal past trauma and change limiting beliefs to open to soul awareness.
dixie clark, ms, mss, lpc | www.morningstarcenter.com | www.dixieclark.com 33
metroMagazine • Sept 2010