May 24

INTEGRITY MONTH: DAY 24: “The voice within is what I’m married to. All marriage is a metaphor for that marriage. My lover is the place inside me where an honest yes and no come from. That’s my true partner. It’s always there. And to tell you yes when my integrity says no is to divorce that partner.” — Byron Katie

An interesting analogy, isn’t it? I have always believed that I needed to love and honor the heart of myself, my intuitive voice that I listen to more often each day. I once married myself, because I truly want to walk through this world in accordance with those vows that I would not be comfortable taking with another human; but felt perfectly complete and comfortable taking with myself. So I can see this being a great idea. What if we teach ALL children to honor and love themselves, just as they are? We say we are doing this, but what I truly see is that we tell them these things, without showing them what that means. Because, the difference here is that we forget the biggest part of the training…instead of telling them that the world is supposed to honor them just the way they are, which is probably NOT going to happen, we need to teach about how to navigate the space between the two. If I love myself and you do NOT, how do I learn to honor you and your choice, even when it hurts me? This is what creates conflict and pain in our world. If I am at peace with you and do not honor you, what does that make me? I become arrogant and superior and all of those things that DO NOT create harmony and peace. How can I sit comfortably with that judgment in my heart and mind? We teach, instead, these views of superiority and self-interest, rather than self-love. Learning to accept that I am beloved by my Creator is a good start, but I need this work to find myself worthy of receiving it. I truly believe that one of the reasons for an addict’s inability to maintain abstinence and grasp recovery is their belief that they are unworthy. Of course they are full of shame and remorse and fear and self-loathing…uh, yeah; they have been living like monsters. But at this point, grace is bestowed in the form of Divine Intervention and they are given this information, no matter how that comes into their lives. With the information, we really need to instill some sense of what grace is all about. See, I believe that every moment, every day, every hour is about spiritual intervention. And I want to tap into that…continuously, all the time. We try and try to figure this shit out and get nowhere with it. It is only when we sit with self and see the beauty of each and every moment…filled with anger, filled with remorse, filled with pain, filled with joy, filled with resentment, filled with elation, filled with grief…that we recognize that they are all spiritual, all gifts, all part of our inner love and part of that partnership that is ours at all times and never, ever leaves us! Oh!

So we must learn to look inward when we are sad and lonely, longing for connection with others and with our purpose. This is the only journey we are here to take. We really long for this connection, and take it out into the world, looking for romance or careers or financial gains, when all we seek is really in the last place we look, within our hearts. Integrity lies within, as do all the greatest gifts we have ever or will ever receive.