Integrity Law #12

To act powerfully in the world, all parts must synchronize. No one can take on the whole world, or live a whole life, until they become a whole person. Discuss the relationship between ‘integrate’ and Integrity…  (excerpt from the Integrity card, available at www.thewisdomwheel.com)

Time to consider the Law of Integrity and why the laws of our land have failed to instill Integrity in our culture. Based on the daily news, about everything from crime statistics to cheating scandals at schools, banks and in politics, I think we need a lot of ethical rehab, not just drug and alcohol rehab. 

Is Integrity a head, heart or a gut issue in your life? Do you believe you can be a person of Integrity without first being whole? Notice that the Law of Trust balances this Law on the Wheel. Without one, you won't have the other.

For the next ten days, make Integrity your watch word. Bring it up in conversation often enough to be considered a bit of a pest. Find out what people believe about Integrity. How important is it to you? Have you left any job(s) for the sake of Integrity? People who 'sell their souls' have usually sold their Integrity. This causes the psychic pain of conscience which can drive many to abuse drugs & alcohol...there's always a link.

Identify one thing you can do this week about your Integrity. Help someone else maintain theirs. Be honest, keep your word, be a person of Integrity. All the money in the world can't buy it back. 

      

Here are some nuggets of wisdom about Integrity.

Integrity requires that I discern what is integral to my selfhood, what fits and what does not - and that I choose live-giving ways of relating to the forces that converge within me... By choosing integrity, I become more whole, but wholeness does not mean perfection. It means becoming more real by acknowledging the whole of who I am. 

Parker J. Palmer, American teacher and author, books include Hidden Wholeness

Knowing what we value deeply-what we hold most dear, when in alignment with being of service to the greater will of all, allows us to take right action in our personal and professional lives. When the will and action are conscious, and in alignment, integrity follows…There is a voice within us that tells us when we are acting right.

Maureen Simon

If we want more brotherhood and goodwill, more intelligence, more clear thinking, more honesty and sincerity, more tolerance and human understanding we must concentrate upon cultivating these qualities within ourselves... There is no substitute for personal integrity. 

Howard W. Hintz, DD

…instead of dividing into mirror-image opposites…people need to achieve a healthier balance of integration. But such integration is difficult. It represents that high human achievement: wisdom. In the absence of wisdom, people are compelled to struggle in their folly. Each side, wedded to its half-truth, sees the other as the problem. But the problem is a property of the system: the polarization and conflict are symptoms of the failure to find a way to bring together those values that are in tension. 

Andrew Bard Schmookler books include Beyond Dispute: Working Through America's Moral Polarization and Fool's Gold: The Fate of Values in a World of Goods

 The saying, “to thine own self be true,” means to act in accord with one’s deepest feelings and values, no matter what the social consequences.  Such emotional integrity could well lead to deliberately provoking a confrontation, for instance, in order to cut through duplicity or denial – this clearing of the air is something a social chameleon would never attempt.

Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ

Integrity is telling myself the truth. And honesty is telling the truth to other people.

 Spencer Johnson

It is no longer enough to be smart -- all the technological tools in the world add meaning and value only if they enhance our core values, the deepest part of our heart. Acquiring knowledge is no guarantee of practical, useful application. Wisdom implies a mature integration of appropriate knowledge, a seasoned ability to filter the inessential from the essential.

Doc Childre and Deborah Rozman

..it is not what we profess but what we practice that gives us integrity.

 Francis Bacon, Sr. (1561-1626) English lawyer and philosopher

What is not integrated repeats itself until it is integrated. I look at the personal story and the societal story as being one and the same, only in larger or smaller scale. In our families and in our nations, what we see is our disintegration being played out. The journey needed now is the integration of ancestor wisdom into the living community—personally in each of our families, and globally in the human family.

Angeles Arrien in The Four Fold Way

Principles are like a compass. A compass has a true north that is objective and external, that reflects natural laws or principles, as opposed to values which are subjective and internal. Because the compass represents the eternal verities of life, we must develop our value system with deep respect for "true north" principles… Consider the absurdity of trying to live a life or run a business based on the opposites…unfairness, deceit, baseness, uselessness, mediocrity, or degradation

Michael Lewis Norton

When you are fully integrated you can be either/or/both/all that you are. You are androgynous in spirit. Your physical nature is just something you take on, play with. No matter how you look, you are not as you seem, you are a soul. 

Christina Baldwin, in Life’s Companion 

The great spiritual leaders of humankind, Buddha, Jesus, Mahatma Gandhi, St. Francis or the Dali Lama, possessed integrated values that seem to put tension into a form that was not just a compromise on the lowest common denominators. At their level of integration, one might be at once freer than the libertines, and more disciplined than the straight-laced. One could be both a better warrior than the hawks and a better peacemaker than the doves. 

Andrew Bard Schmookler in The Dance of Polarization

It is in the integration of the inner and outer worlds that true spirituality can be distinguished from false. But this integration is greatly influenced by an internal struggle in the psyche for balance. From this struggle self-knowledge is attained.

Katherine Tyler Scott in ‘Leadership & Spirituality’ chapter of Spirit at Work

Integrity means living and acting in alignment with spiritual law and with our highest vision, despite impulses to the contrary. From the heart of integrity we recognize, accept and express our authentic interior reality, inspiring others now with words, but by our example.

Dan Millman in The Laws of Spirit

The personality is the integration of the physical, emotional and mental worlds in one…Integration of the soul with the personality connects to the plane of intuition and the spiritual world… The goal of all development is integration – of the individual as a personality; integration of the personality with the individual soul: integration of the human with the whole, until complete unity has been achieved.

Margo Kirtikar, Ph.D. in Cosmic and Universal Laws 

In ten days, we'll look at the 13th Law of Beauty. Until then, enjoy integrating your thoughts, feelings, intuitions and sense of spirit.

Higher Purpose Law #11

‘Be certain that all members can clearly state the shared purpose by heart… It is for each individual to find their personal alignment between group purpose and their life’s purpose… Once ‘cross-purposes’ are released, the energies can flow freely, and Higher Purpose can be accomplished.

     (from Higher Purpose card, available at www.thewisdomwheel.com)

Only 5% of Americans believe they are living out their Higher Purpose. Are you one of them? Imagine working with people who love what they are doing so much they'd do it for free? What difference does it make when you believe you are spending your days doing what you are meant to? 

On the Wisdom Wheel, the Law of Right Action balances Higher Purpose, as you can see above. It is easier to know what to do when your sense of deliberate intention informs every one of your Choices. Think of people you know who are living purposeful lives, not in a self-righteous way, but from a place of deep Commitment. What is the cost of not living from a place of deep, abiding purpose?   

For the next ten days, make Higher Purpose your watch word. Bring it up in conversation as often as you can. Learn more about how people discover their Higher Purpose. If you knew you only had a year left to live, what would you spend the next 365 days doing? This might hold a clue to your true purpose. 

Identify one thing you can do this week about your Higher Purpose, or to help someone else with finding or living by theirs. Don't wait till it's too late.

      

Here are some nuggets of wisdom about Higher Purpose from others.

This law says that we have taken physical form to fulfill a purpose. You have a unique talent and a unique way of expressing it. There is something that you can do better than anyone else in the whole world--and for every unique talent and unique expression of that talent, there are also unique needs. When these needs are matched with the creative expression of your talent, that spark creates affluence.

Deepak Chopra in The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success

Becoming a force of nature doesn't mean that all of our aspirations must be ‘grand.’ First steps are often small, and initial visions that focus energy effectively often address immediate problems. What matters is engagement in the service of a larger purpose rather than lofty aspirations that paralyze action. Indeed, it's a dangerous trap to believe that we can pursue only ‘great visions.’ 

Peter Senge in Presence : An Exploration of Profound Change in People, Organizations, and Society

A man…who knows the ‘why’ for his existence will be able to bear almost any ‘how.’ … What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him. What he needs is not the discharge of tension at any cost, but the call of a potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by him. 

Victor Frankl, psychologist & concentration camp survivor  

Every life needs a purpose to which it can give the energies of its mind and the enthusiasm of its heart. Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible and suddenly you are doing the impossible. 

Saint Francis of Assisi

The Vision that you glorify in your mind, the Ideal that you enthrone in your heart - this you will build your life by, this you will become. Until thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent accomplishment. They who have no central purpose in their life fall an easy prey to petty worries, fears, troubles, and self-pityings, all of which are indications of weakness, which lead, just as surely as deliberately planted seeds, to failure, unhappiness and loss, for weakness cannot persist in a power-evolving universe.

James Allen (1864-1912) British philosophical author of As A Man Thinketh

Creating a joint venture between head and heart puts a power pack behind your goals. Getting your head in sync with your heart and harnessing the power of coherence gives you the energy efficiency you need to achieve changes that haven't been possible before. The head can notice what things need to change, but the heart provides the power and direction to actually bring about the changes.... By using your heart as your compass, you can see more clearly which direction to go to stop self-defeating behavior. If you take just one mental or emotional habit that really bothers or drains you and apply heart intelligence to it, you'll see a noticeable difference in your life.

Doc Childre and Howard Martin, The HeartMath Solution

There are three components to the Law of Dharma…a Sanskrit word that means ‘purpose in life.’

-The first says that each of us is here to discover our true Self.

-The second component is to express our unique talents; the expression of that talent takes you into timeless awareness.

-The third component is service to humanity.

When you combine the ability to express your unique talent with service to humanity, then you make full use of the Law of Dharma. 

Deepak Chopra in The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success

When I chased after money, I never had enough. When I got my life on purpose and focused on giving of myself and everything that arrived into my life, then I was prosperous.

Dr. Wayne Dyer

Chase your passion, not your pension.

Denis Waitley

Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. And it will leave you unfulfilled.

Barack Obama, US President

Strange is our situation here upon earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to a divine purpose. From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know: That we are here for the sake of others...for the countless unknown souls with whose fate we are connected by a bond of sympathy.

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German American physicist won 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics

We are visitors on this planet.  We are here for ninety, a hundred years at the very most.  During that period we must try to do something good, something useful with our lives.  Try to be at peace with yourself and help others share that peace.  If you contribute to others’ happiness, you will find the true goal, the meaning of life.

The Dalai Lama, Tibetan spiritual leader

The sole purpose of life is to grow... everything in life has purpose. There are no mistakes, no coincidences, all events are blessings given to us to learn from. ...The greatest rewards in your whole life will come from opening your heart to those in need. The greatest blessings always come from helping... It is very important that you do only what you love to do. You may be poor, you may go hungry, you may live in a shabby place but you will totally live. And at the end of your days, you will bless your life because you have done what you came here to do. 

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross,(1926- 2004) Swiss born psychiatrist and researcher studied death and dying and popularized the five stages of the dying process, books include memoir, The Wheel of Life. 

I'll post the next Law of Integrity ten days from now. Stay tuned.

Trust Law #10

Can you Trust these people? If a sudden fire broke out, who would risk their life to pull you to safety? Would you risk your life for anyone in this room? For everyone in this room? Is it easier to risk our lives than to Trust others with our truth?…

            Cynthia Davidson from Wisdom Wheel Trust card 

(To order cards, stones or a poster visit www.thewisdomwheel.com)

Who do you Trust? 
Are you a trustworthy person?  
The lack of Trust creates the absence of Integrity. These values Balance each other on the Wisdom Wheel, as you can see from their positions above, Laws #10 & #12, anchoring the North and South Directions. 
Each time you hear of another scandal; in business, politics or the personal lives of people you know, realize it's a breach of Trust. 
Such a short, simple word, yet how difficult to get it back, once it's been lost. Imagine the worst possible betrayal you could suffer. Losing your Trust in a spouse, a parent, friend or spiritual leader can trigger the most intense crisis; anger, depression and the questioning of all your beliefs. 

For the next ten days, make Trust your watch word. Bring it up in conversation as often as you can. Learn more about who and what inspires your Trust. Why is Trust declining, while lawyers and their fees continue climbing? When does distrust begin? What do you do when you doubt some one?  

Identify one thing you can do to increase the degree of Trust you have in yourself, at least. Do you tend to give your Trust too early or too late?

      

Here are some nuggets of wisdom about Trust from others. 

The key to trust is action... Trust goes hand in hand with truth. Lying is always a breach of trust...telling the truth establishes trust, lying destroys it...The worst enemies of trust are cynicism, selfishness, and a naïve conception of life, in which one expects more than one is willing to give. Resentment, distrust, and in-authenticity are the result.... The freedom provided by trust is the freedom to think for ones’ self and to speak one's ideas.

Fernando Flores & Robert C. Solomon from their book, Building Trust: In Business, Politics, Relationships and Life (2001)

Self-trust is the most basic and most often neglected form of trust. Distrust is often a projection of missing self-trust.

Fernando Flores & Robert C. Solomon

To create a relationship of trust, ‘x’ and ‘y’ must learn each others’ beliefs. 

Robert Muller, ex-U.N. Assistant Secretary General, retired Chancellor of the University of Peace, in Costa Rica

Liberalism is trust of the people tempered by prudence. Conservatism is distrust of the people tempered by fear.

William E. Gladstone Minister (1868-1894) British Statesman and Prime minister

Trust is a leap of faith that makes us vulnerable – to betrayal, exploitation, incompetence, chance and the unexpected – a leap that flies in the face of guaranteed fail-safe passage.

Allan E. Mallinger, M.D. & Jeannette DeWyze

Trust cannot be forced…Love, trust and safety can be brought to our relationships once we have found them in ourselves, by letting go of fear, guilt and defensiveness.  …emotional nurturing and reflection enable us to release defenses that prevent us from experiencing wholeness.

Jack Gibb in Trust

To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved.

George Macdonald

We don’t let go into trust until we have exhausted our egos.

Rob Lehman

The inability to open up to hope is what blocks trust, and blocked trust is the reason for blighted dreams… To sit patiently with a yearning that has not yet been fulfilled, and to trust that fulfillment will come, is quite possibly one of the most powerful ‘magic skills’ that human beings are capable of. It has been noted by most ancient wisdom traditions. 

Elizabeth Gilbert (1969 - ) American novelist, books include Eat, Pray, Love

Imagine what the world would be like, if we could not trust the food we buy, the water we drink or that the people we depend on would not manipulate or harm us? ...The only way we can expect trust is to be trustworthy ourselves. Unfortunately, many people don't trust themselves, nor their judgments and decisions, therefore, we experience disharmony in our lives...

Sidney Madwed

When they lose their sense of awe,

people turn to religion.

When they no longer trust themselves,

they begin to depend upon authority.

...The Master observes the world

but trusts his inner vision.

He allows things to come and go.

His heart is open as the sky.

Lao Tzu (c.604 - 531 B.C.)

It is possible to have mistaken expectations, but it is impossible to be “too trusting.” Real trust is deepened and informed by disappointment, just as spiritual vision is refined by disillusionment. Trust prepares us for the best by teaching us to prepare for a future far

better than what we may merely be hoping for.

D. Patrick Miller

Trust is about honor, integrity, and accountability. There is no greater freedom than absolutely knowing that you can trust another person. Trust brings peace. Trust lets me sleep at night. Trust feels right. Trust feels good. Trust is being free from worry.

Being trusted is an honor. Being trusted carries a responsibility and with that responsibility, there is pride. There is dignity. There is self worth. Trust is human. Trust is transformative. Trust is care. Trust is virtuous. Trust is authentic. Trust is pure. Trust is sincerity.  

Mark A. Taylor

You can Trust me to post another entry ten days days from now. It will be on Higher Purpose, the 11th Law. Until then, enjoy your Trust lessons.