Consistency feels like a fundamental requirement to having integrity and being taken seriously. I have written about integrity and the importance of respect for both self and other plenty of times, but sometimes I get reminders of why consistency is integral. I feel that it's still always about balance and that while it's important to be consistent, it's also important to be able to consider that sometimes we may need to change our own personal beliefs and perspective. So let's discuss these topics and how they relate to consistency today.
I feel that if we are not consistent in what we do and say then it is very difficult to gain any kind of respect from others, but more tragically we lose respect for ourselves. I often say that truth isn't something that can be told or shown, it can only be realized, and it's when we get too fixated on the idea that we are in some way "correct" or "more correct" than others that we stop gaining perspective. When we stop gaining perspective it's easy to start preaching ideals at others that we don't live up to ourselves and we then get lost in blame and victim mindset.
Integrity is a very intangible concept that I would say describes a level of consistency and balance. If we want to have more integrity, we have to be both more consistent in our own beliefs and lifestyles while also being more willing to shift our own perspectives. For example, I couldn't discuss peace and love as the fundamentals of my philosophy everyday and then be going around attacking people as it would create quite a contradiction. At the same time it is my responsibility to defend and uphold my own perspective while trying to be respectful of others. We are all contradictory to some extent and being overly judgmental of that fact isn't all that beneficial either. It seems that we must find balance and wholeness in all that we do to fully accept ourselves and be able to share authentically with others in a respectful manner. Namaste.