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1)
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I'd always held
integrity*
as simply a matter of
keeping my
word**
until my
conversations with Werner
revealed that there's a possibility of being unable to
keep my
word**
and yet maintain
integrity*
- for me, that was a
breakthrough
if ever there was one. To do that, required I define (ie
re-define)
integrity*
as
honoring my
word**
(as distinct from
keeping my
word**).
Honoring my
word**
is the
access
to being in
integrity*
regardless of whether I
keep my
word**
or not.
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2)
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After re-invoking
integrity*
as
honoring my
word**
rather than as
keeping my
word**
and after telling the truth about
keeping my
word**
unflinchingly,
I realized that my own ideas about what my
word**
really is (ie the
word**
that I
honor
or
keep
- as the case may be) were vague / sketchy at best. Regardless of
whether I
kept my
word**
or
honored
it, I had it that my
word**
was little more than the promise(s) I make - or at
very least, my telling-the-truth-ness in all matters.
That was until more
conversations
with
Werner
distinguished with
laser-like
accuracy, the possibility of not merely one or two but rather
six definitions of
word**
which I've transcribed verbatim below. I was clear (certain,
actually) that I could uphold and be in alignment with his first
five. It was at upholding and being in alignment with his
sixth definition of word**
that I was stopped ie at which the almost sheer impossibility of
always being in
integrity*
began looming over me.
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3)
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Werner's
first five definitions of
word**
all pertain to my
word**
over which I seem to have control ie over which I seem to have say
in the matter. It's the
sixth definition of word**
which seems to pivot on my adherence to the laws of the
land and
keeping my
word**
in that realm, that the likelihood
of the impossibility of always being in
integrity*
shows.
Did you ever drive a mile an hour or more over the speed limit?
Knowingly or unknowingly? Of course you did. That's illegal. And
when you did, you were out of
integrity*
with the
sixth definition of word**.
Did you ever pick up a dollar on the sidewalk and not declare it at
tax time as taxable income? Of course you did. That's illegal. And
when you did, you were out of
integrity*
with the
sixth definition of word**.
Both of those (driving a mile an hour or more over the speed limit
knowingly or unknowingly, and not declaring that dollar you picked
up on the sidewalk as taxable income) are but tiny if
not trivial examples of being out of
integrity*
with the
sixth definition of word**.
Ignorance of the law is no excuse. How much worse does it bode for
us and our collective
integrity*
when we begin considering the
big
stuff implied by the
sixth definition of word**?
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Word‑1.
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What You Said:
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Whatever you have said you will do or will not do, and in the case
of do, by when you said you would do it;
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Word‑2.
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What You Know:
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Whatever you know to do or know not to do, and in the case of do,
doing it as you know it is meant to be done and doing it on time,
unless you have explicitly said to the contrary;
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Word‑3.
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What Is Expected:
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Whatever you are expected to do or not do (even when not
explicitly expressed), and in the case of do, doing it on time,
unless you have explicitly said to the contrary;
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Word‑4.
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What You Say Is So:
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Whenever you have given your word to others as to the existence of
some thing or some state of the world, your word includes being
willing to be held accountable that the others would find your
evidence for what you have asserted also makes what you have
asserted valid for themselves;
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Word‑5.
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What You Stand For:
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What you stand for is fundamental to who you are for yourself and
who you are for others. What you stand for is a declaration
constituted by
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1)
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who you hold yourself to be for yourself as that for which you
can be counted on from yourself (whether specifically
articulated by you or not), and
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2)
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who you hold yourself out to be for others as that for which
you can be counted on by others (or have allowed others to
believe as that for which you can be counted on).
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