Life With Courage, Compassion, and Integrity

"I am always inspired by the strength, beauty and grace

of women who live into their aging process with dignity."

The Soulful Woman

When I was transitioning into my authentic self, I was bombarded by many words of wisdom.  I was normally overloaded with information stemming from ancient masters and current enlightened souls. I eventually realized I would make more progress if I reduced the inflow to focused on just a few things in order to move forward more lightly.

I chose elements:  Courage, Compassion, and Integrity.  As reminders, I wrote these three words on paper hearts and then placed them in places that were not obvious, but where I would notice them for sure.  In my office I placed them above the door frame, as people usually had their back to the door and never looked up that high when leaving.  Yet, as I sat in my chair, they were very easily seen.  I did the same thing in my bedroom, so when I awakened I would see them first thing.  Inside the medicine cabinet seemed like a good place as well.  Anything to keep me focused.

As the majority of my life had been driven by fear,  I set an intention to replace fear with courage.  A friend described me lovingly as a brave little soldier.  I decided to change the image to a spiritual warrior having nothing to do with guns, battles and wars.    A spiritual warrior would be a beacon of light, striving towards peace.

I began to use all of my energy with compassion rather than using my strength to build walls or isolate.  When I responded during conflict, if I maintained an attitude of compassion, my energy went to helping rather than creating a distance between us by defending, challenging, or judging.  My core became strengthened and it was easier for me to relax into who I really was, dropping masks, distractions, and unhealthy relationships.  

My definition of integrity is 'who you are when no one sees you'.  This understanding requires me to not only be honest, respectful, and loving in the presence of others, but also when I am by my self.  This eliminates unnecessary opinions, gossip, and drama.  The difficult part, for me, was honoring and respecting my changing self.  This led me to loving myself just as I loved others.  

With courage, compassion, and integrity, I was no longer a chameleon, adjusting my self to play a different part for differing situations.  I was able to be the same person no matter where I went or who I was with.  With my stronger sense of self, I could just be and enjoy the moment.  This initiated a personal empowerment to move even farther down my path to fully become me.