THE PRICE OF AUTHENTICITY IS PAID WITH INTEGRITY

We are all flawed. We are shaped by our inner genetic predisposition and conceived in an imperfect world. The deck is stacked against us at birth. We are thrust into an arena with multiple gladiators, fighting multiple battles, for many reasons on multiple fronts. We are compelled to form alliances, join other battles while simultaneously fighting a life long war of our own. Yes, there are rules for engagement and standards set by society, but not strictly enforced. It is a corrupt honor system that uses partisanship to sporadically enforce compliance. Because it is biased, many of us have compromised our integrity to fit into the system. Some of the pressures we face in life work against our standards of morality. We are defined by the standards we choose to follow in life. Each of us must form and adopt a standard and stand on it. Every individual must choose to work in, on, with, by, for or against the system. If we do not stand for something we are likely to fall for anything. A standard reflects not only what we do but how we do it. Sometimes it is easier to work on (fix) what we have then it is to replace it. People want the true brand, the genuine article and the real deal. Who we are, and what we are "at best" may be expressed as  "a multitude of flaws stitched together by good intentions."  At best we can barely  be trusted.

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Building trust is like banking. Trust is the currency (money) we deposit in our accounts. It is a lifelong activity of creating "accountability" that we deposit into and withdraw from. It is significant that these trust accounts are maintained in the memories (mind banks) of the people and institutions we interact with. As we create these accounts we must be aware of our built-in "flaw factor." It is always intuitively or explicitly expressed within our conversations (the fine print). We have "two tellers" (spokesmen) to deal with every type of transaction on all of our accounts. These two tellers titled "honesty" and "integrity" keep up with our verbal balances. Both of these tellers, depending upon the contract, work differently with our deposits and withdrawals. We find them affiliated with all of our accounts even though they are established and maintained individually. Though closely related, honesty and integrity maintain accounts differently. We can exercise honesty without integrity but cannot perform with integrity outside of honesty.

Facing and acknowledging the truth about ourselves is one of our biggest obstacles. We have met the enemy and he is us!  We need to maintain our house with honesty and keep integrity in the midst of all our affairs. At times we may find ourselves in a conflict between what we believe and what we know. Sometime we are told to just have faith, but may not know where or how to apply it. There is a subtle but unique difference between knowing and believing. Knowing something relates to a learned or experienced actuality easily proven by the fact of its existence. It is reality in it's truest, simplest, "in your face" form. Believing something does not require physical evidence or experience. Beliefs take priority over knowledge and can be embraced and held correctly or accepted and applied errantly.  A belief can hold its ground and withstand any scrutiny regardless of its truth or accuracy. Unfortunately we all harbor our own set of personal erroneous beliefs. Erroneous beliefs seem to fall under two main categories. There are delusional beliefs and overvalued beliefs.  Such beliefs are regarded as true and so we easily embraced them as fact. While one is considered a disorder the other may be termed as a gross error in judgement. Beliefs become obstacles when our personal judgement and logic become so corrupted that we confuse fiction with fact. Once we add  it into our knowledge base as a belief it takes a primary position of priority over any new, different or objective information. A belief intrusively usurps its place and becomes the predominate premise determining what we think we know. This is where deception begins and how delusions are constructed. A delusion is constructed in a manner that works to maintain a false belief in spite of any compelling contrary evidence.

At sometime or another delusional thinking will influence all our judgement's. We are all susceptible to this scenario. No one is exempt. Error is inevitable. Here are two practical  steps anyone can take to mitigate this cycle. The first step is to  identify wrong thought. This can be difficult to do if honesty and integrity are not functioning as our primary source of influence. Finding ourselves may not be something we know how to do. We do know that from time to time we can loose track of where we are and how we got to here. But our blinded minds can inhibit insight and hamper the ability to see that clearly. This is a disease where the symptoms directly conflict with the solution. The remedy focuses on and directly confronts beliefs that we are always ready to defend. Targeting these psychological and emotional strongholds is not an easy thing to do. The act of interrupting such well defended mental maladies may result in the manifestation of physical sickness. Any abrupt disruption of thought processes can create a form of stress that may trigger a variety of illnesses. The stress we impose upon ourselves can only be measured by the damage it inflicts upon our bodies and spirit. The damage inflicted becomes evident over time. It is critical to "nip it in the bud" and catch these cancerous thoughts during their incubation period before they take control and occupy strongholds in our minds. Early intervention usually mitigates the damage that has already been done. Because a remedial solution is not the best practice for this type of problem. This is why a proactive approach is as important as addressing inaccurate thought. Learning and practicing preventative policies must be a part of our plan, because most the damage that occurs after false beliefs take root may never be undone. Erroneous beliefs have a life of their own and can spread like a virus.  This not only affects the carrier but also everyone that carrier comes in contact with. The social stress of our beliefs and values upon anyone has an indirect effect upon everyone.  They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks but that is not true. As long as the instructor is patient and the dog is willing, there is hope. Learning a new skill in a new way may be difficult initially but not impossible. Likewise when we get set in our ways and become close minded the same difficulties beset us. Questioning everything begins with questioning ourselves first. It makes sense and it's logical to believe that if we were born in China we would speak one of their many languages and think differently about life. Thinking about thinking is not a normal thought. Our greatest struggles are within ourselves not with others. The more we exchange, share and communicate with others, the better our thinking perspectives can broaden. The more we seek for clarity, the clearer we will see ourselves and others.  The information age offers us the opportunity to review, remove and refine our thinking and beliefs if we choose to. Life is progressive. It is patently foolish to keep believing things strictly based upon tradition or appearance. This is a classic example of abductive or inductive logic being misconstrued as conclusive deductive logic. We may deduce that the characters and pictures on our television screens are generated from inside of the set.  We know that this is not true, but it does appear to be so. Based on the fact that when we turn our television on sounds and images come out of it, that belief makes logical sense. Although such a conclusion follows logic it is still incorrect. The value of truth comes at the cost of not being right.  A belief can make us right but the truth will make us free. The cost of correctness comes at our own expense. Those of us willing to pay the price are also willing to sacrifice. We who are willing to continually subordinate our egos and humble our opinions down to the level of a "preference" will discover the power and ability to understand others. We know that "an error doesn't become a mistake until we refuse to correct it."

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