Saturday, October 22, 2016

Feel Good, Do Good, Be Good : Live with Integrity and Graciousness




'When you choose to act with integrity and graciousness, you are strengthened by your experiences; when you choose to act out of ego, fear, anger, retaliation or hate, you are hardened by your life experiences.' 

Small Daily Decisions over a Lifetime Determine Your Life Satisfaction  

You are the only one who sees behind your eyes and deep into your heart. Only you know whether you act with integrity. 
Life is full of intrigue and drama--especially in love and work. Every day we make small decisions about getting in, staying in, or getting out of relationships. Our choices ultimately determine the course of our life and how satisfied we are.

The one constant throughout your life is you--you are the only one who travels in your innermost circle 24/7. You are the only one who sees behind your eyes and deep into your heart. Only you know whether you act with integrity.



Acting with Integrity Gives You Strength

While choosing to act with integrity may feel scary or uncomfortable when you're in the midst of turmoil, after the emotional fog lifts you can see this is what strengthens you for life ahead.

Acting with integrity is what gives you the strength to be brave enough to speak up the next time in such a way as to achieve the best outcomes--despite your initial dis-ease.

Make a conscious decision to be strengthened, not hardened by your life experiences.

Putting Your Integrity to the Test

  • In the last three days--what decisions did you face about how to conduct yourself? Would you say you acted with integrity and graciousness? If not, why not? What could you do differently to improve?
  • Is there a time in your past you acted without integrity that fills you with regret? How can you let that go, and choose to feel good about your actions today? 



Something to Think about: Words to Live By

"Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody's going to know whether you did it or not." Oprah Winfrey

"The integrity of men is to be measured by their conduct, not by their words." Junius

"Integrity means that you are the same in public as you are in private." Joyce Meyer

"You are in integrity when the life you are living on the outside matches who you are on the inside." Alan Cohen

"If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't have integrity, nothing else matters." Alan K. Simpson

"Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful." Samuel Johnson

"Nothing more completely baffles one who is full of trick and duplicity, than straightforward and simple integrity in another." Charles Caleb Colton

"Calamity is the test of integrity." Samuel Richardson

"Tragedy in life normally comes with betrayal and compromise, and trading on your integrity and not having dignity in life. That's really where failure comes." Tom Cochrane

"Perhaps the surest test of an individual's integrity is his refusal to do or say anything that would damage his self-respect." Thomas S. Monson

"Goodness is about character - integrity, honesty, kindness, generosity, moral courage, and the like. More than anything else, it is about how we treat other people." Dennis Prager

"Once you get rid of integrity the rest is a piece of cake." Larry Hagman



Do You Choose to Act with Integrity and Graciousness?

  • Who are you? How do you choose to live your life? Would you say you act with integrity and graciousness?
  • How do others view you?  Would friends and family say you are gracious and act with integrity?
  • Are your internal beliefs in sync with your actions? How do you feel when you act out of integrity?
  • Twenty years from now, will others say you lived with integrity--and will you feel good about your actions today?

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For more than 35 years, Susan Meyerott has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes changing easier than ever before.


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2 comments:

Barb M said...

Great post, Susan, particularly in the current climate. A good reminder to 'do unto others'.

Susan J Meyerott, M.S. said...

Thanks, Barb. We can't do anything about other's behavior, only our own. And why should we allow our own behavior to be brought down by bad behavior in others. Why not choose to live in a way that makes us feel good about ourselves. Good to hear from you.