Integrity

I need reminders around me of what is important to me.  Maybe you do, too.  So my wallpaper on my computer, what I see every morning as soon as I turn it on, is a collection of quotes that inspire me.  One of them I've shared in a previous post, but I'll return to it and give it some individual love and attention some time in the future.

One that I haven't referenced yet comes from First Things First, by Stephen Covey.  That book really helped me to think about who I am and what is important to me.  But what is more valuable to me is that it showed me a fault and offered me a solution.  My fault is that I don't always do what I know is best or wisest or most helpful in the long run.  And the solution it offered (not the only one that works for me, but a good one) is this phrase: Integrity in the moment of choice.

Now moments of choice fall upon me thick and fast, and I often totally flunk the integrity test.  But when I pass it, I notice a few common factors.  I've spent time lately thinking about what I love, what's really vital to me, and what life will be like when all of those parts click.  I've prepared what I need to do just a small bit towards my particular bliss.  And I've taken precautions to limit my distractions and obstacles.  Like Ulysses, I've seen that the sirens could lure me away, and I've stopped my ears and allowed my better impulses to lash me to the mast of my innermost desires.

What drives me to integrity is not despair over past failures or sheer willpower to achieve a goal; it is love.  It is the remembrance of a cherished dream.  It is the warm hearth of possibilities that belong to me.

Read Dawn Hyperdrive and the Galactic Handbag of Death today!  It's available at Amazon or Smashwords, and you can always try before you buy at my website.