The other day I just missed the recycling collection. Well, truth be told, they failed to stop as I rushed out with my crate overflowing with bottles and cans. So, this week’s bottles went in the normal bin, which troubled me somewhat.
It was the same feeling I got when, for reasons of cost, I bought ‘ordinary’ chicken breasts the other week, instead of free range or when, once in a blue moon, I allow myself a KFC.
The reason these things trouble me is that I know I’m not behaving with integrity, which to me has always meant living according to the principals and values that are important to me.
Sometimes it’s easy to adjust our values to allow us to have the things we want. I tell myself it’s ok because it won’t have an impact on the bigger picture.
I guess that’s the same argument that people make when, for example, whilst condemning shoplifting, they’ll happily ‘steal’ copyrighted material from the Internet, or whilst espousing the importance of the National Health Service, they’re hiding those little bits of extra income from the tax office. They adjust their values and convince themselves that these transgressions are ‘ok’.
My partner talks a lot about karma, and positive energy, and I think there’s a lot in this. I know that I get a real sense of contentment when I’m being true to myself and behaving in a way that I believe in, and which reflects the things I believe are important. Equally, I feel disappointed in myself when, on reflection, I realise I’ve reshaped my values because it suited me to do so at the time.
Living with integrity is, to my mind, a key measure of personal success. So, I was really pleased to find (courtesy of a tweet by @unimenta) this link the other day to a lovely little film, which I think succinctly describes what integrity really means and reminds us how to live with integrity.