Inspiration for the Month

“Those who preserve their integrity remain unshaken by the storms of daily life. They do not stir like leaves on a tree or follow the herd where it runs. In their mind, remains the ideal attitude and conduct of living. This is not something given to them by others. It is their roots…it is a strength that exists deep within them.”

Anonymous Native American

There are people in our lives, whose very presence affect us with profound grace and love. My father was such a man, and for the years of my life that I was so privileged to have known him, he exhibited to me and to all of those who met him, a kind of greatness, a largeness in the face of human frailty, failings, and sinfulness, if one can call the darkest side of human nature sinful. He seemed impervious to people who prattled on about insignificant topics, to people who spoke from both sides of their mouth, people whose acts of deception and desperation earned them perhaps a distancing from him, but never degradation or a judgment.

He always stood the high ground; it was as if he knew no other place. I never saw my father truly lose his temper, or scream out hurtful, derogatory words that needed retraction and apology later. His manner of living in this world is far more significant to me now, since I have graduated into the full adult phase of my life journey. I am profoundly, and deeply in awe as I begin to understand his enormous emotional strength, love and tolerance of people around him from every walk of life, and his remarkable self-obedience. He did not follow the herd, but remained true to his inner wisdom and enormous integrity.

Integrity (a word to embrace this month): moral uprightness; honesty; unimpaired or uncorrupted condition.

Think it, feel it, show it, teach it!

Inspiration for the Week courtesy of Aldonna Barry Personnel and Management Consultants Inc.