Each of us is graced with the most powerful gift. With it, we are able to make people soar out of orbit with happiness, or plummet to the earth with despair if we are careless. What is this almighty gift? It is the gift of words and the ability to communicate. As a society we often forget how powerful our words can be. We are occasionally reckless or too quick to speak, when we should take time to think about the consequences of our words. We are taught from childhood to think before we act, but sometimes neglect to think before we speak! Not to worry, this can be a thing of the past by learning the art of 'Speaking with Integrity.' Integrity is defined as 'the quality of possessing and steadfastly adhering to high moral principles or professional standards.' Isn't that an awesome definition? Right away, it elevates the position of the speaker to a place where he/she is responsible for caring about how their communication is going to be received. For example, if you frequently tell jokes or stories that are a little 'unfitting', when integrity is embraced, your jokes will conflict with the 'high moral principles' aspect, and maybe even the 'professional standards' part depending on where your jokes are being told. Wow, how is that for immediate responsibility acceptance? Want to try it out? For the next week, examine your communications and try to speak with integrity. If you slip, jot it down and write a response that does come from a place of integrity. With practice, you will start to put this to use naturally and you will see how extraordinary the results will be. Your life and the lives of those you touch will be so much richer. Now that we've decided to change how our words affect others, what about how our words can affect ourselves. As a whole, we so often use our words to speak against ourselves. We were all taught manners. Isn't it a shame that we don't apply the manners that we wouldn't dream of deviating from for others, on ourselves? In fact, I bet that if anyone else spoke about us the way that we do, we would not be speaking to them at all! So, why put up with it from ourselves? Make a conscious effort to STOP! Yes, start TODAY. In the story portion of the One Minute Millionaire, the main character was told to wear a rubber band around her wrist and to give it a tug every time she had a limiting thought. Within days she had a red welt on her wrist, but as time went on she was pulling the rubber band with less frequency. Why not try this tool yourself? I CHALLENGE you to put that rubber band on your wrist, and give it a good pull each time you speak about yourself in anyway other than an exemplary manner. You may start out with a very sore wrist, but you will end up with a very strong sense of self. We've decided to not speak to others without integrity, to speak about ourselves in an exemplary manner, how about how we talk about others? Yes, it is gossip when we speak about others. It can be hurtful and sometimes have serious consequences, not just for others, but for ourselves as well. When we gossip we are tarnishing ourselves. Most of what is considered 'good' gossip is negative in some manner - a behavior, situation or belief. We are willingly corrupting our world by participating in such actions. Since we know that like attracts like, we are knowingly sending negativity out into the Universe. Make a promise to eliminate all forms of gossip from your life. Each time you think to gossip, instead turn it into a positive affirmation about the person. This change alone will help you attract much more of what YOU want. Imagine how much good the 'Art of Integrity' can put out into the Universe. Providing a positive, truthful comment, helping someone turn a bad mood into a good mood, and speaking to ourselves with only love will have an incredible affect on many lives. Remember the Laws of Attraction are at work at all times. Watch your words and speak only of what you would want to have in your world |
Main Page
