Doing what needs to be done

So here’s the thing.  Intergirty.  This little word has so many meanings that it has almost become meaningless.  You don’t have to go to many organisations to find it in a corporate value statement.  We have integrity.  He or she has integrity.  So I’m going to stop using the word.  I read a long time ago now doing things as well as you can, speaking as well as you can each and every day of your life.  And doing so without becoming stressed or ‘busy’ and without compromising rest and relaxation.  This, i think is what most poeple mean when they say integrity, but in some ways makes much more sense to me because it gives direction. It feels easy to understand.  I started on this track of making the most of everything, my actions, my words, my thoughts about ten years ago and it has become a daily practice.  Hmm, that is a nice way to think of integrity – not something you ‘have’ or not, but something you practice.  Like scales. You can’t say someone has scales, but you can say someone practices scales.  And just like you get better at scales as you practice them, you get better at integrity.  i realised that I was sloppy with housework, with emails with little bits and peices.  I was often leaving things until the next day that I could easily do then and there.  that was my first ‘integrity’ practice. Making sure I was being present to what needed doing and without rushing or pushing, doing what needed to be done. Things got folded and put away if not worm.  My bed got made as soon as I got up.  Papers got put away after I had read them. My house became tidy and organised without effort.  My fridge stayed free of off food.  My shoes were always polished. My clothes always fit, were devoid of holes or pills.  I started having the best of what I could have with what I had.  I stopped buying things that were on sale because they were on sale.  I started buying clothes because I loved them.  I bought the best pots I could buy and realised I only needed one or two when they were good.  I bought the best materials for my art.  And I bought everything within my means.  I never pinched. If I couldn’t afford something, I’d either wait until I could, and it would always come more quickly than I imaged, when I did everything that needed doing, spoke with conviction and postivity and remained present to my situation.  I stopped being fearful, I started being delighted at what I could acomplish, life started to be easier the more I did. I was fun.  It was relaxing. It was what was at the heart of creating my life, letter go of competing for anything, instead adding to the world wherever I could.  It was a remarkable part of my spirtual journey.