Integrity

I believe that integrity is fundamental to wellbeing. Integrity, as I see it, is living a life that aligns with your values and your beliefs. I also see integrity as involving a certain internal consistency, so that you are in touch with your feelings and your body and mind are connected.

Alignment

I believe a key component of integrity is honestly reflecting on what we believe about living a good life and then aligning that with our actions. If we do this, I believe we are actualizing our highest values and what results is a feeling of wholeness and esteem.

Congruence and Authenticity

I see another key component of integrity as being connected with your feelings. I believe that by getting in touch with our feelings and understanding them, we become more authentic and whole. I also believe that by exploring our feelings we can discover what we value and what gives our life meaning.

Honesty

I feel that integrity and honesty are very closely connected. I believe that if we are honest with ourselves about what we believe and what we feel and we then live that out, then we are living with integrity.

Wellbeing and Cognitive Harmony

Overall, I feel that wellbeing and psychological wholeness/integrity are two sides of the same coin. While cognitive dissonance is a concept which refers to the discomfort someone feels when there is a lack of alignment between their behavior and their values, I believe we experience “cognitive harmony” when the way we live is aligned with our deeply rooted values and beliefs.