097 – Live With Integrity - a podcast by Alf Herigstad

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Today I want to talk about integrity.  It is a huge topic, and I doubt I’ll cover all the facets of it today, but it will be a start.So integrity…what is it exactly?  I always like to look up the definitions of words and then I tweak them a little to make them more accurate, but I found one particular definition of the word integrity that I really love.  It is;
“The state of being whole, and undivided.”Wow, if you say that over and over a few times and really think about what it means…its pretty profound. 
So, as a human, what does it mean to be whole?  To me it means that all of my parts are together and consistent with each other.  All the components that make up who I am are functioning at optimum efficiency, and they don’t contradict each other.As opposed to being divided as a person…where you say one thing and do another.  Or you have different moral principles for different situations.  Or you act differently around different people, or you only engage in right action when you know someone is watching.  To me, these are all examples of someone who is not whole, they are divided.
So now we have an idea of what it means to be a whole person, how does that manifest itself in daily life?  A lot of people use the word integrity, and usually when people use the word they are referring to honesty. For sure honesty is a major component of integrity, but there is a lot more to it as well. 
For example, when you are living as a whole person, with all your parts functioning together, it’s unlikely that you would say things that you don’t really mean.  Because to do that would mean that your intentions and your language are not functioning together.  A whole person, a person living in integrity, would be much more likely to only say things that they mean…their language would be consistent with their intentions.Sometimes it possible that your intentions are in-line with your language, you say something you really mean but then you don’t follow through…in that case your intention and language are aligned…but it is your actions that are not functioning together with all your other parts.  In that case you are out of integrity.
I have an example of this, there is an area where I am out of integrity right now.  On a granddaughters birthday I told her I would plan a special day and her and I would do something fun together…I still have not made time to do that, I am out of integrity in this situation and I will remain so until I align my actions with my language and intention.  I don’t even know if she remembers me telling her that, but it doesn’t matter because I remember.Like I said earlier, integrity is a huge topic and there are many different examples and types of integrity.  There are all the obvious ones that everybody knows like stealing, lying, cheating, etc..  of course these behaviors are all out of integrity.  Today I am talking about a specific type, a more subtle type of integrity.
I’m talking about the type of integrity in which every aspect of your nature and character are completely aligned…To remain in this kind of complete integrity at all times is very difficult, not too many people can pull it off.  Because as humans we have some natural tendencies to do otherwise.  Like me with the promise to my granddaughter…I will correct that, but until I do I am out of integrity.You might wonder…if this is an impossible task then why are we even talking about it, it seems unattainable? 
It’s true.  A person might not ever attain a level of complete integrity, but…if they are committed to trying, if they are paying attention to every part of themselves and make corrections when they become misaligned, they will have much, much more integrity than if they pay no attention at all.To attempt to do anything there has to be some value, some payoff.  The value of living a life with integrity is immeasurable. 
A man with integrity has the...

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