Integrity - let’s get honest
Integrity. I honestly hadn’t put much thought into this word until it became a word found in our school wide expectations several years ago. We explained it to students as doing the right thing, even when no one is looking. This is the simple explanation that makes it easier to understand.
Then, it came up during the first weekend of my yoga teacher training, and it struck much deeper. A few weeks ago, we had a sermon in church on it. Through these contexts, I am discovering that integrity is a matter of the heart. It’s a moral struggle. Integrity is how you show up for yourself and others (or not) repeatedly.
I speak about balance, about being okay with not being perfect, and about giving yourself grace. Those things are important!
But, what does it look like to offer ourselves grace, while also showing up with integrity? I’m not really sure, but it’s something I’ve been exploring the last few weeks. For me, it’s noticing the why behind why I am choosing to do or not to do something. It’s sticking to commitments, while also recognizing when I need rest and being honest about that. It’s why I chose 75 days of progress over the 75 hard challenge we’ve heard so much about. I wanted to reflect and build integrity to show up to my commitments while also being able to be honest about how I feel during the process and adapting to that. 75 days of progress is about commiting to goals, and being able to accept off days without quitting. Recognizing that just because one day doesn’t go as planned, doesn’t mean your overall goal (energy, health, weight loss, who you are as a person, whatever it is to you) isn’t possible.
Integrity with grace is about recognizing when goals may need to shift during specific seasons without giving up. For example, I am committed to moving my body every day. In previous seasons, that looked like a cardio or strength workout. That’s what I had in mind when I committed to 30+ minutes of movement each day of the 75 days of progress. Just 3 weeks in, I noticed that at 5 months postpartum, my movement idea of movement needed to shift during this season. Instead of a daily morning workout, some days it looks like an evening walk or 30 minutes of yoga instead. I’m still moving. I’m showing up to my life with integrity. It just looks different than what I had originally planned!
Okay, so movement is pretty easy for me. It’s something I like to do and it makes my body and mind feel good. But as I’ve reflected on integrity in other areas of my life, I’ve felt pretty convicted. Two areas that I repeatedly don’t show up for are time management and phone usage. These don’t seem like that big of a deal, and to some it’s not. But these 2 things create guilt and shame for me every single day. When I show up late to drop my kids off, family dinner, or birthday parties. When I repeatedly say I won’t drive while looking at my phone and then do it the very next time I’m in the car, heck sometimes even just 5 minutes later. I move because I want to be an example for my kids and have energy and a long life. Why can’t I think of showing up on time and putting my phone away when I’m driving or with my family in the same way? These are habits that I want my kids to develop, so why can’t I show them by living by example?
What area are you lacking integrity in? Let’s get honest. Not to feel guilt or shame. I personally have the forgiveness of God for that - Praise the Lord :) But, let’s get honest to bring awareness to some not so obvious habits that are creating tension and stress in our lives. When we remove the tension in some areas, it creates more space for growth in others.
Sure, I’ve tried to adjust these habits before, and failed. But, here’s the thing..you are always an evolving work in progress. You don’t have to start over from scratch. You just have to pick back up where you left off, notice what is working and what isn’t working, and make small shifts in your attitude about that thing. Show up with INTEGRITY. For others you love AND for yourself.
