Well. I Messed That Up.

Practice what you preach. Great words to live by... until you fail to live up to whatever it is you're proselytizing, be that:Telling the truth.Nonviolence.Respect.Honoring your boundaries.Using your intuition.Loving all beings.Integrity.We comprehend failing in the obvious ways:Cheating.Hitting people.Yelling at loved ones.Hating.Most of us recognize when we’ve made these choices and feel awful.But death by a thousand cuts happens, well, by a thousand cuts. I’d say that failing to practice what we preach happens more often in the minutia. The white lies. The uninformed choices we make at the check-out. The way we treat our partners and kids behind closed doors. The insensitive, yet seemingly harmless, things we say behind the backs of our friends.We live in misalignment from our integrity and what our hearts and souls knows to be true.It’s the accumulation of these small acts of betrayal against our honor that lead us to wake up one day and wonder, “How did I get here? Is this really the person I want to be? Is this the life I want to be living?The good news. We’re human and it happens to everyone. Everyday. Sometimes all day.The even better news. We can do something about it.Do an integrity inventoryWhat do you value? Think about what you value and write it out, make a picture, or plaster it on your bedroom door with post-it-notes.Self-AwarenessAsk yourself, “Do I truly honor these values in myself through my choices, the way I act, and how I treat myself and others?”ImplementDo something. We can’t change with the same energy that created the problem. Take one step towards your integrity. If you catch yourself starting to say something snarky about a coworker or friend. Stop. Take a breath. Ask yourself what part of you really wants to be heard.StumbleYou’ll say things that aren’t kind, inadvertently buy clothes made by 5 year olds, and have multiple integrity relapses. Because you are human.Try AgainAnd because you are human, living this beautifully complex life, you get to try again.In the comments below, let’s support and inspire. Share your values, your mistakes, and how you are living in alignment with the Real You.