Your relationship with yourself is the foundation for the relationships in your life. Let’s face it…YOU are the common denominator in all your other relationships. Your relationship with yourself is often overlooked and therefore, is likely to need of some attention.
Unfortunately, in our relationship with ourselves, most of us suffer from a lack of integrity. Before you get offended, let me explain.
Integrity could be defined as, “doing the right thing even when no one is watching.” Part of integrity involves keeping your word and doing what you say you’ll do”. In other words, a person with integrity follows through with actions and words, which ultimately develops trust. Where there’s a lack of trust, there’s usually a lack of integrity.
How trustworthy are you? Imagine promising a friend that you’ll meet her at the gym 3x this week, and then instead, deciding to sleep in. Your failure to follow through would leave your friend disappointed and possibly angry. Over time, that kind of behavior would destroy trust; you would prove to be unreliable and lacking in integrity. This would more than likely result in permanent damage to the friendship.
The same is true in your relationship with yourself. If you promise yourself that you’ll make certain things a priority and then fail to do so, you damage that relationship with yourself. Whether that’s promising yourself that you’ll go to the gym, get more rest, eat healthy or pursue any goal that’s important to you, failure to follow through is harmful.
It doesn’t happen all at once. Instead, this lack of follow through with yourself, chips away at your integrity a bit at a time. The gradual accumulation of broken promises with yourself can prevent you from living wholeheartedly. Rather than living wholeheartedly (loving God, yourself and others with ALL your heart) you’ll find yourself with a broken heart; living with self-condemnation and a lack of confidence; being critical of and disappointed with yourself.
If you find yourself in this position, the goods news is that it’s not too late. You can begin to repair the damage today. To do so requires time; it is not a quick fix, like applying a Band-aid. Instead, it’s done by rebuilding trust, one promise at a time.
Take time to review your goals and then rank them in order of priority. Then renew your commitment to them, focus on them and follow through. Simply stated: Do what you say you’ll do.
Maybe that means you’ll take action on things you’ve been procrastinating. Maybe that means stepping out of your comfort zone and trying something new. Or, maybe it’s simply a matter of looking at your goals with a new eye, and taking the steps to pursue them, being consistent over a period of time.
Whatever it is for you, do what it takes to rebuild trust, thereby improving your integrity. Your relationship with yourself (your heart) will undoubtedly enjoy the results.
