"Peace is your home, integrity is your way to it, and everything you longed for will meet you there" - Martha Beck
Ever since I read The Way to Integrity by Martha Beck I've seen a difference in when I'm walking in full integrity, and when I'm not. Martha explains that being in integrity isn't a self-righteous thing, as religions sometimes make it out to be, but it's a way of living life from our true nature, committing to our own values, always telling the truth, and having boundaries.... even if that means standing alone.
This is the hard part. So much of what we learn about who we think we need to be, how we need to act, and what we should believe comes from culture and society. It was told to us at a young age by people we trusted and we believed it... until we got older and started thinking on our own. That's when we started questioning things, and perhaps, what we'd been told didn't completely line up with who we were becoming and what we knew to be true deep down inside. This is when we began feeling the internal turmoil that something's not quite right. This is the universe telling us we are out of our integrity, and this is when we need to start paying attention.
When I finally grasped what Martha was talking about and started taking a look at my own life, I began seeing myself for who I really was, embracing my true nature, evaluating and holding on to my own values, and accepting the truth about myself, my life, and the people in it. This wasn't easy and I could see changes needed to be made, however, I could also see that the more I aligned myself in my integrity and stood my ground, the more I found an inner strength I never knew I had... as if I was being anchored to something bigger... something that was encouraging me onward, turning me into who I was meant to be, and leading me to the life I was meant to have.
The only way we can fully do this is by finding the courage to step away from what we were taught and resisting what society expects us to do by going with what our internal compass is telling us instead. This is the path to true freedom and the life we were made for if we dare to take it. Martha says, "We were meant to live in peace". I agree, and, although I'm still working on finding my way home to the peace I long for, I can't wait to see what's waiting for me when I get there. I hope you, too, will find your way home and the peace that comes at the end of your journey. It may be a long road, but as we reach our destination, I think we'll find the light we've been looking for all along.
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