The Value of Integrity
By Marian Volkman
The root of the word integrity comes from the Latin word meaning whole or complete. With our integrity intact, we feel a certain wholeness in ourselves. Without it, life, and even our certainty of self, become fractured.
The elements of integrity may demand some work and effort on our part at times. Being honest, not only in the sense of common truthfulness, but also to the extent of being unwilling to deceive or manipulate other people, requires both valuing integrity and defending it against other urges we may have. Respecting other people and treating them with dignity at all times regardless of their station in life, their education and their abilities may take conscious effort. Taking responsibility for our own actions and the consequences of those actions (no matter what good excuses we might have!), requires strength of character. Fairness in all our dealings may not come easily.
When we are whole in ourselves, we are able to live up to high ideals. On the other side of the coin, acting according to these values in fact gives us that desirable state of feeling whole and complete. Doing the work to achieve and maintain integrity rewards us with the potential for relationships of excellent quality and frees us for greater accomplishments in life. When our personal integrity is lost or compromised, life becomes more complex and difficult, and much less fun.
Given that integrity has such great value, why would we ever let it slip away from us? Let us consider that some people are not taught integrity to begin with. If their family or their society fails to practice these values, children don’t receive instruction and examples of the value of integrity.
If we find ourselves in seemingly impossible situations, where we feel forced to compromise what we know to be right in order to survive or to protect someone we care about, we may make the choices that lead us away from wholeness. Letting our values slide is often a slippery slope to a less successful mode of living.
Most if not all of us have things regret. What is to be done if we have lost our sense of wholeness?
The whole subject of Applied Metapsychology, including Traumatic Incident Reduction, is uniquely well-suited to help us gain or regain a high state of integrity. The practice has us look at not only what has been done to us and how that has affected us, but also what we have done to other people. There is great relief to be had by reducing the pain and confusion from such incidents. Next we look at what other people have done to others, with us as witnesses. Emotional “charge” or resistance get stored in those memories as well. Finally there are the things we have done to ourselves that were less than optimum. Those may include times we let go of integrity.
All of Life Stress Reduction, the beginning of the path, strengthens our ability to maintain integrity along with many other crucial abilities for living. The Ability Enhancement portion of the journey goes on to further unburden us from past hurts and build our strengths. Life can be excellent and it is well worth the work to get there.
To benefit from Applied Metapsychology, see:
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