In the face of the current challenges we are navigating in this bifurcating world, it is increasingly important now to examine and live by our personal beliefs and value system. This is a time to get to the deeper clarity on what reveals itself to be the guidelines to your truest nature. In our context this would be consciously participating with spiritually beneficial behaviors that help to define a clear value system and guidelines, for building improved character and Personal Integrity. Our personal values provide an internal reference point for what is discerned as beneficial, important, useful, beautiful, productive behaviors and actions, which we commit to for the purpose of developing ourselves and guiding our life. Our personal values are what motivate and generate our behavior and actions, they are what influence the choices we make in everyday life. Understanding ourselves enough to have clarity on what we give value to in our personal value system, is critical for building Personal Integrity and discerning whether the actions we take are aligned with those values or not.
Each of us has to choose the kind of person we want to be in this world, whether we decide to wear the mask others have provided for us, or act independently to discover what we really value and how to think and feel for ourselves. When we are committed to cultivate higher attributes of our moral character through the practices of compassion, kindness and embodying personal integrity, we will naturally attract genuine people into our lives that hold value for these same qualities.
False Friends and Fake People
One of the most difficult and painful lessons many newly awakening people have on the spiritual path is discernment, or the ability to clearly identify the shiny glamour of appearances that is generally behind fakery and fake people. We tend to be unaware of fake people that use false friendliness towards us when we are unclear about our personal value system and the ways to practically embody personal integrity. We encounter many different kinds of people throughout our lives, and for those of us committed to spiritual growth and the building of meaningful relationships, it becomes increasingly important to discern when people are being genuine and when they may not have the best of intentions.
Fake people with surface smiles or people lacking self-awareness tend to attract more fakery and false friends as the result of the lack of clarity they have in directing their own lives in alignment with a personal value system. When people are confused or unaware of the necessity to shape their own personal value system, they lack self-awareness, and tend to be oblivious of how their dishonest actions may influence others. Fake people generally provide a reflective mirror highlighting certain areas in our lives where we also may lack self-awareness, providing an opportunity to shine a light on blind spots for mastering our egoic lessons. If we can recontextualize false friend situations when we felt betrayed or when we discovered fake appearances in others as an opportunity for increased spiritual growth, we can convert these unpleasant lessons into a powerful means through which to gain stronger discernment in order to see the red flags immediately.
The emotional danger of connecting with fake people is that we can more easily misplace our trust in someone we thought was a genuine friend, and when that trust is broken, we may perceive that to be a significant betrayal. Emotional and spiritual betrayals can be devastating in such ways that can leave us emotionally shattered when we experience what we perceive to be a great betrayal from someone we trusted. In these moments, if we surrender to the painful situation as a lesson for intuitive discernment in order to be able to see people’s true moral character and genuine intentions more clearly, we may increase our intuitive ability in all interactions we have, which builds the qualities of trust.
Building trust within ourselves and knowing how to build solid, genuine and trustworthy relationships takes some personal effort directed towards self-study in exploring personal integrity made through daily self-reflection and meditation. Through our meditations we direct compassion to ourselves and compassion to others, reflecting on the positive qualities we want to grow in our lives. We achieve greater self-awareness by paying attention to our thoughts, behaviors and reactions, so that we get crystal clear on where we place our attention. With this clarity we can then further refine our value system to stay aligned to what is meaningful in order to remain true to ourselves.
It may be a powerfully positive process to review your core values, so that you can see how you are evolving and transforming, as you stay better aligned to your own personal value system.
What Values Motivate My Life?
What are the most important Personal Values that motivate my life? Choose up to five of the most important core values that feel the most essential to live authentically and express your highest purpose. Then focus upon those themes that you have chosen and evaluate if you are practicing and increasing these important values throughout your life.
Maybe upon deeper reflection or in the future you’ll find that your most important personal values are shifting, or are revealing differently in order to become more specific in their quality. The more specific we are in identifying our core values, the more accurate and clear we can be when applying those to the behaviors that guide our life. As an example, let's say through deeper self-study you have identified a recurring pattern that makes it hard to feel confident in valuing yourself when in the company of intimidating people. One of the core values that you choose is to Value Yourself equally to others, no matter what happens. To make this an important guideline in your life will help strengthen personal behavior to value yourself while in intimidating situations, which increases Personal Integrity.
Once you’ve defined some of your most important personal values, then inquire on each one to evaluate how you can better align your thoughts and behaviors with the meaning and quality of each value.
Practical Application of Embodying Integrity
In the process of completing a personal integrity self-assessment and consciously choosing your value system based on what you know to be true for you, now is the time to take conscious steps every day to behave in ways that are consistent with your personal values.
*Identify the behavioral traits that need to be addressed and are required to change.
*Determine the underlying reasons why you have not behaved with greater personal integrity.
*Observe the obstacles and other people that are used as excuses to lie or violate your personal values or moral code.
*Commit to build authentic relationships through greater truthfulness, honesty and being open and direct.
*Compile a list of tasks and behaviors in which you dedicate to become more trustworthy and honest.
*Protect your basic human rights to be authentic and protect the rights of others, by respecting the decisions and opinions of other people.
*When possible, be of service to others and live as an example for embodying truthfulness and integrity.
*Be willing to honestly self-assess progress on your commitment to personal integrity, making adjustments along the way.
*Look for the support of others who are inspiring examples of personal integrity, and have similar goals and personal values to be honest and trustworthy.
*Develop Accountability for personal behaviors and actions, and if you make a mistake that impacts others or you break a promise, be willing to admit it and apologize.
The world is rapidly changing during these stages of bifurcation, as the negative polarity and positive polarity spirals are becoming more extreme and amplified in the external. In order to stay deeply connected into our core self, and to withstand the massive impact of these opposing forces colliding, we must take conscious steps to embody personal integrity.
(Source: ES Newsletter - Personal Integrity)