The Cameron Method - Newsletter Archive
7 April, 1999 - Happiness & Your Integrity
Inner Mind Update is currently a free newsletter, published bimonthly by Sharon & Clark Cameron to support your benefiting from the Releasing Strategy which is part of The Cameron Method. We focus on key developments and challenges of the mind, current affairs and life itself. The Cameron Method is available in software, cassette tapes, a book and personal counseling. For more information, see http://www.CompuMind.com .
You need a sense of integrity to have a really happy life.
To enjoy success and happiness we think of having what we want, usually in regard to mate, health, career or money. But integrity is the something else that's necessary.
When you have a center of integrity you have something to fall back upon when the world seems to be working against you. It provides you inner strength when you are in alignment operating as a good person, as a person with bigger ideals than your own comfort or gain. It will direct you when you are tempted to justify selfishness or a small self-centered view of the world.
Make no mistake ... being self-centered is a major part of all unhappiness. And the more we feed this beast, the more demanding it becomes. Focusing on our own needs and desires creates an endless spiral (regardless of constant advertising saying otherwise).
The golden rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Or the Confucian version, "Do nothing to someone else that you would not want done to you," is a time tested structure. It is easy to remember and simply a good outline to place over any intended actions.
Do you have a problem with your integrity? Do you lie to protect yourself? Do you cover up your actions and excuse them by saying "It doesn't matter." And, "It won't really hurt anyone else"?
For instance, are you operating from integrity when you denigrate a friend behind his or her back to make yourself look good?
Are you practicing integrity when you slide by with lies to yourself or others in your personal or business relationships?
The lies said to make yourself feel good or to get your way can add up to a well-deserved loss of self-respect. No one else has to catch you at it... You really do know when (as they used to say) your soul is at risk!
And that risk is not just in some afterlife. It is very much in the here and now.
President Milosovic of Serbia is becoming an archetypal example of someone letting his own selfishness and self-delusion lead him and the people caught in his influence to disaster. The need for more and more power is at the root of his behavior and viciousness. His actions are an echo of Sadam Hussein's, and of course Hitler's.
Another thing. Do you think people take advantage of you? Do you feel you are not appreciated enough? Do you do things for people with the recurring thought that you deserve more acknowledgment? Do you believe you get enough praise for your good deeds?
Try to remember truly unselfish people and practice their attitudes. For instance: do you think Mother Teresa ever worried about getting thanked for what she did? Can you imagine how ridiculous that picture would be?
So what can you do about improving your integrity and therefore your ability to have happiness?
You can start by practicing it just as when you practice any actions and attitudes that you want to improve. Think of how you work to break a habit. You practice being different or doing something differently than you have been doing. Don't expect to suddenly change your ways completely. Just try "practicing." It doesn't have all the emotional loading that "change" has.
And use The Cameron Method's Releasing Strategy described in the book, Designing Your Heart's Desire by Sharon Cameron to help your mind improve your life. Remember, all action comes from your mind's decisions. So clean up your mind base and create a deservedly positive self-image.
Repeat each statement until you can say it easily.
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