Spitting Into the Wind

Pure intentions and honorable actions do not always offer protection from hurtful accusations from those you had been close to. More than one instance comes to mind in which I acted with complete integrity and selfless service only to have wildly untrue accusations flung in my face. Sadly, I have seen the same unfortunate fate befall people I love.

When I am unfairly attacked, my first instinct is to defend my integrity by explaining why the accuser’s perceptions are so horribly off target. Up until recently, I believed that explaining my position with clarity and precision would always be helpful and productive.

I was wrong. Time and time again, I have learned that trying to reason with an unreasonable, irrational or psychologically damaged person is like

The Doorway of Discontentment

Dan Millman

In his essay for Inspire Me Today, author Dan Millman shared a profound experience that continues to help him maintain his perspective during difficult times. It’s a beautiful lesson worth sharing.

Click here to read an excerpt from the  story Dan told me for my book, Sixty Seconds: One Moment Changes Everything.

YOUR DISCONTENT IS THE FIRST STEP TOWARD AWAKENING

In our day-to-day lives, most of our attention tends to focus on the realities of the conventional world: our relationships, perhaps raising children, going to school or work, addressing issues in the areas of health and finances.

At the same time, we each experience, from time to time or even persistently, that whispered voice of our heart or higher self, reminding us and calling us to look beyond the conventional world to a higher or transcendent reality.

Sometimes we experience a sudden wake-up call—a loss or change that forces us to consider what life is really about and what’s truly important. It shakes

The Three Stages of Truth

Yep, pretty much. Here’s a similar take from nineteenth-century philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer:

All truth passes through three stages: First it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.

Trying to corner the market on truth is like trying to wrap your arms around

The Logic of God’s Existence

From the unfathomable mysteries in the ocean depths to the dance of life in the densest jungles to the celestial constellations of distant stars, the exquisite order and breathtaking beauty of the natural world offers compelling evidence of a governing intelligence.

By definition, belief in God requires a leap of faith; but it’s a leap that is amply supported by logic and reason. Given that persuasive evidence points to the existence of a complex web of intelligent consciousness that expresses itself as an entanglement inherent in all creation, it follows that God—the formless intelligence that created us—is

Fallen Idol

In a March 2 online article for Entertainment Weekly, the newly minted Top 13 American Idol finalists were  asked, “What sets you apart from the other contestants? Jeremy Rosado replied, “I know that I have the favor of God, and that’s gonna get me farther than anything else.” Now, I don’t know exactly what Jeremy meant by that, but I imagine his comment alienated more than a few of the voting viewers. Come across as “holier than thou” on a TV talent show, even if that’s not what you intended to convey, and you might as well press the Eject button yourself. Sure enough, last night Jeremy became the first singer to be eliminated. Even though he wasn’t the most talented singer in the bunch, my heart goes out to him. I can only imagine the anguish and humiliation that come with being rejected on live TV, and especially at such a young age.

So what does “having the favor of God” really mean? Anyone can attain the favor of God simply by striving to live in attunement with peace, love, truth and beauty. As Hazrat Inayat Khan wrote:

Everyone shows harmony or disharmony according to how open he is to the music of the universe. The more he is open to all that is beautiful and harmonious, the more his life is tuned to that universal harmony, and the more he will show a friendly attitude towards everyone he meets, his very atmosphere will create music around him.

Having the favor of God is all about internal rewards, not external results. Loving God won’t directly help you win a singing contest, a football game or a book contract. What it will help you win is a

True Believers

What in your life do you believe to be true because you want it to be true, not because it is true?

Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.
Henry David Thoreau

For instance:

• It’s healthy to express my anger, so yelling at my family when I’m upset is perfectly fine.

• I’ve only had

Success of a Truer Kind

True integrity does not so much as flinch at attempts to sway it, even if all the riches of the world were to be laid at its feet.

The test of character is the amount of strain it can bear.
Charles Houston

Hold on to your integrity and you will hold on to your peace of mind, even if all else appears to be lost.

It is possible that the scrupulously honest man may not grow rich so fast as the unscrupulous and dishonest one; but the success will be of a truer kind, earned without fraud or injustice. And even though a man should for a time be unsuccessful, still he must be honest: better

The Only Real Mistake

Embrace absolute integrity and you will find that guilt and regret are inevitably replaced by peace and serenity as naturally as winter gives way to spring.

Just as surely as distress must follow self-deceit, healing must follow self-honesty.
Vernon Howard

On those occasions when you do fall short of your expectations, you

Do What Is RIght Today

Living a life of integrity begins right now. If others continue to define you by your past errors, so be it.

Anyone who proposes to do good must not expect people to roll stones out of his way, but must accept his lot calmly, even if they roll a few stones upon it.
Albert Schweitzer

Do not allow the mistakes of

Truth Is Not Afraid of Questions

A person of integrity honors other people’s perspectives and interpretations, never making the mistake of taking an opposing view personally.

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

When someone challenges your statements or positions, you welcome the opportunity to clarify any misperceptions.

Truth is not afraid of questions.
Paramahansa Yogananda

Even if every choice you make is virtuous, your

Two Mistakes on the Road to Truth

Commit to a life of integrity and you recognize honesty as your best friend. You understand that telling the truth—or what you perceive to be the truth—is a sacred trust.

Truth is no theory, no speculative system of philosophy, no intellectual insight. Truth is exact correspondence with reality. For man, truth is unshakable knowledge of his real nature, his Self as soul.
Paramahansa Yogananda

Breathe life into a single lie and your

When Two Good People Argue Over Principles

Live with integrity, and though you consider your truths immutable, you recognize and respect that other people hold other truths that resonate just as deeply with them.

Whenever two good people argue over principles, they are both right.
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

Trying to corner the market on truth is like trying to wrap

We Taste and See and Feel the Truth

Truth is a multi-sided gem that reflects the light of perception differently depending on how it is held and turned in your hand.

The truth is not simply what you think it is; it is also the circumstances in which it is said, and to whom, why, and how it is said.
Vaclav Havel

How do you know what is true? Divine intelligence speaks to

Truth Will Make Its Way to the Light

A truth is relative and open to human interpretation. A Truth is absolute by divine decree.

Every issue has its own levels of truth. Levels of truth move in a progression. As one grows and increases in awareness, his or her levels of truth move from the superficial to the more profound.
Anne Wilson Schaef

As you peel away layers of human perceptions, you discern the eternal Truths looming behind the more common truths that govern your daily life, which yields

Let Your Mind Dwell on These Things

Live a life of integrity and you not only conduct yourself with honor, you honor the divine essence that connects us all by your compassionate, respectful conduct toward others.

You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.
James D. Miles

Unless they give you a reason not to, you treat every person who crosses your path as if their level of integrity matches your own.

Live so that when your children think of fairness and integrity, they think of you.
H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Just as every person unconsciously yields to the gravitational

Of Poems and Palindromes: Lost Generation

LOST GENERATION

Jonathan Reed, a twenty-something Atlanta native and a student at Columbia College in Chicago, wrote this palindrome poem, “Lost Generation,” about the future waiting for him and his peers. Reading it from the top down is disheartening; reading it from the