“Ordinary riches can be stolen; real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.” – Oscar Wilde
You are not defined by what you have (e.g. your possessions, talents, position and appearance), rather, you are what you express day by day, moment by moment. As such, the quality of your expression should always be reflective of the highest and finest expression of which you are presently capable.
In so doing you’ll find that the physics of life begin to work out. Those who are responsive to the best you, the real you, will draw near while those who react to your expression will naturally be driven away. Integrity obviates the need for judgment.
How you handle those who reject or react negatively to your expression is a matter of personal preference. In my opinion, you are wise to scrutinize the criticisms leveled against you for any truth they may contain and make adjustments to your orientation, motivation and course as necessary, but you needn’t dwell on them or feed them through reaction. The greatest friend of truth is time.
Rare but precious are those who rise to this standard. Yet no matter how few they may be in number at any point in time, their expression inches forward the weave of the golden thread of integrity through the loom of time. An ounce of integrity in expression outweighs the sum total of everything less than it in any given moment. Integrity is infinitely precious.
Gregory Hake 
It is futile to try to change the world by judging others into acting right. If it works at all, it becomes a surface change with a rotten core. It is by example, leading by making the changes yourself, that the world can be changed.
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Great post! Thanks.
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Again such power in your words. To consider the exquisite nature of the thread of integrity through us is supremely high minded. Sharing and living such aspirations does connect us to a feeling of wholeness, responsibility and fulfillment.
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I always enjoy reading your blog. If I can read it in the morning before I get involved with my activities, I find it often brings up a subject that helps to set my bar for the day. Such is today’s ! My expression is the apparel that can’t be spoiled by anyone but me. It is the opportunity to add lasting beauty into the world. It’s my calling card, my contribution and where my higher self declares its existence. Thank you for the reminder.
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Beautiful, thank you,
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Integrity sure is the key that unlocks the wonders that life has to offer. Being whole in yourself, undivided and committed, goes such a long way to discovering your true self and how that fits in with the true world. In other words, it clarifies both doubts and the unknown, little by little, as a strong sense of undeniable purpose begins to take over, one that is not up for debate nor needs defense because it simply is the real deal.
Time does tell the tale eventually, and in today’s world, certain things seem to take forever – this explains the slow progress observed in the many social, political and moral arenas of our collective function. But, this is only because the threads of integrity have been broken and not because of the pace set forth by some external force like natural selection. If anything, nature has been kind and forgiving beyond fault. This need not be for anyone, and certainly one way to accelerate individual progress is to live in step with an all-encompassing code of honor – that is, integrity. I look back in my own life and can easily see that any stagnancy or any moment that I felt I was regressing came as I broke with integrity somehow, and so it is I can predict the same. Better yet, I now know the cure.
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YES!!!
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