What does it mean to express integrity?

Today I ran a search on "Integrity."

Most results were unsatisfactory in my opinion.

The following was among the best I could find without spending all day searching for reasonable results!

http://community.humanityhealing.net/profiles/blogs/honesty-and-integrity

"Integrity means being true to ourselves and being honest, upright, and decent in our dealings with others. When we are guided by integrity, our thoughts and words are in line with each other; our actions align with our principles. Our conduct speaks for us, more eloquently than words ever could. It becomes the basis for both reputation and self-respect. Integrity demands courage but delivers untroubled sleep.

Developing integrity requires internal honesty, because we can’t be honest with others unless we are honest with ourselves. It requires self- awareness, since we cannot accurately communicate what we do not know.

People of integrity can be counted on to stand up for what is right, even if it is unpopular, and to behave with honor even when there is no one around to see. Integrity allows other people to trust us because they know that we value our commitments and seek to live by them. It is one of the cornerstones of loving relationships and shared endeavors.

Honesty is saying what we know or suspect to be real, even when we don’t like the consequences. It is also much more.

Because most deception is actually self-deception, true honesty requires that we recognize our natural human penchant for fooling ourselves. In particular, honesty requires that we guard against self-serving biases: our tendency to seek confirmation for what we already believe while ignoring contradictory evidence; our tendency to put blame on others and take credit for ourselves; our tendency to think that what is good for us is good for the world and even to make the gods themselves in our own image.

Honesty is a lifetime process of catching ourselves in falsehood and, however reluctantly, turning away from it.

Source: Wisdom Commons"

YES! :~}

It has been said that "if one is false to one’s self then one cannot be true to anyone." That may be a paraphrase but it is clearly based upon the fact that many seem to overlook.

One cannot live and express integrity while putting on an act, or imitating the behavior and expressions of someone thought to be respected, in order to gain another’s respect or approval.

Many may feel themselves less impressive or knowledgeable than others, while one may not be able to repeat facts and information as well as another, that does not mean one is ignorant, it does not mean one lacks knowledge, it does not mean one cannot express one’s self intelligently and keep ones integrity strong and alive.

The most important action any person can take is to remain true to him/herself. This is often not done, many sell themselves short because they want to fit in and be accepted by the crowd.

Unfortunately, the crowd may often be expressing some form of mass insanity.

I use the term insanity as the practice of expressing oneself falsely in order to fit in and feel acceptable. The mistake made by that practice is not realizing that 'one is not being accepted,' it is only the false pretense one is acting out that is accepted. What that means is that one is stabbing themself in the back and/or figuratively shooting themself in the foot in order to be falsely accepted.

If I am a dove and I pretend to be a snail so that others pretending to be snails will accept me, what does that say?  First it says that if there is acceptance it is not the acceptance of me the dove, instead it is the acceptance of the fake persona I put on, that being the imitation of a snail.

So it is important to notice in the above example that only the fake is accepted not the real, thus one enters into what has often been called the dream and/or the illusion of reality.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with admitting to ones’ self "I do not know what to do." Being true to ones’ self often begins with just such an admission to one’s self.

Alternately, one may have clear insight and know the right thing to do. When that is the case the difficult step to apply is to do what one knows is right for ones’ self.

As in most instances in living there are many considerations to remember such as;

Being offensive to another in order to protect ones’ self is always a sign of weakness that always fails to be helpful, and most often escalates a bad encounter into something worse.

One does not have to remain with insulting and/or mistreating people. Simply walk away and choose to not remain with people who fail see and or accept responsibility for the harmfulness of their actions.

Most hostilities in this world today begin with self-deception while choosing to insult another in order to defend or attempt to feel stronger as a result of that effort.

In actual fact, one becomes weaker when one becomes proud of getting the upper hand over another.

True strength lies within the realization; ‘I am real, whole and complete just as I am without any props, pretending, or effort.

This understanding at its deepest levels extends to all of humanity, even the entire universe both known and unknown.

Competition is emphasized in a credit based predatory civilization.

Cooperation is emphasized by people who choose to honor and strengthen each other in their ability to act with integrity, and truthfulness.

Those who choose to practice deception, lies, and manipulation, have contempt both of themselves and others!

It is important to remember that no matter how much one expresses their best effort to share their most sincere experience of truth in life, others may fail to recognize and/or comprehend what has been shared. In such instances responses may be unflattering and off-putting. That should be expected and not resisted, or snubbed. Every person is entitled to learn the deepest truth they can according to their own inclinations. You and I can never force or comprehend for another.

As the saying goes, one can lead a horse to water but one cannot make the horse drink. Likewise one can express what has become a living truth for ones’ self but one does not have the ability to create understanding within another.

Love is the greatest expression of integrity.

Love empowers every individual to express themselves according to their understanding and inclination in the moment.

Love is not a manipulator.

Love is not a competitor.

Love gives from abundance.

There is no lack in love.

Love does not seek fulfillment in another.

Love expresses itself abundantly within everything we know and experience.

Love does not make demands.

Love does not need approval.

Love does not need love in return.

Love is always true to its nature.

In this world of contrast it is differences that manifest experience.

It is love that is the substance of awareness enabling perception as it is experienced here and now.

Life is a complete experience that is never an isolated event. Everything is connected.

In conclusion I want to say as little as I can to clarify a viewpoint about plagiarism.

Plagiarism as I understand it is copying a persons words and/or expression and taking credit for that as ones own.

A primary reason for creating such a thing as plagiarism seems to be based upon competition and claiming financial compensation for what has been expressed.

Taken to a ridiculous extreme it would be against the law to speak or use numbers or communicate in any way with another because the symbols, words, letters and numbers being used were not created by the person using them.

That said it is respectful to honor what one knows to be the original author of any expression one values. Meanwhile it can be extremely limiting to attempt to check and compare everything ones expresses against everything ever written in an attempt to be certain one is expressing something no one ever expressed in the same way before!

I hope no one chooses to take offense to my expression of these perceptions.  If it is claimed that something I have expressed should be accredited to another, then as I am able and as it is proven and made clear to me, I shall do what I can to comply.

May the expression of life sustaining all things be recognized as the loving spirit of life sustaining and enabling you and I.