Self integrity

I woke up on Thursday morning, and it was sleeting.  Not rain,  not snow, sleet!  And while it wasn’t sleeting hard, it was just hard enough to ensure that any clothing that wasn’t waterproof would soak through quickly.

Dark. Sleet.  It seemed that this was a perfect time to spend the morning in bed.

But I had made a promise to myself that I would run this particular morning.

I frequently run, many mornings I will walk or run with my wife or my children.  But those runs are casual affairs, and this morning was to be a training run.  A run at closer to race pace.

And it was sleeting.

For men of substance,  moments like this are familiar.  They are the moments that set the tone and inner expectations for the rest if the day to follow.  They are moments of self integrity. 

Self integrity is about keeping the promises we make to ourselves. These are the promises that are unknown to the world, but the way we handle them often becomes obvious to everyone around us.  When we keep the promises we make to ourselves we set the stage for more promise keeping, more integrity in our interactions with  others.   When we break those promises, we also set a stage, but with opposite directions. 

I went for the run.  I got cold and  wet, but I kept the promise I made to myself.  I acted with self integrity.  And it felt good.