SECTION 5

Integrity: Honoring Your Word

1. Is keeping your word, and on time

OR:

2. Whenever you will not be keeping your word, just as soon as you become aware that you will not be keeping your word (including not keeping your word on time) saying to everyone impacted:

a. that you will not be keeping your word, and
b. that you will keep that word in the future, and by when,
or, that you won’t be keeping that word at all, and
c. what you will do to deal with the impact on others of the failure to keep your word (or to keep it on time).

Your Word Defined

1. What You Said: Whatever you said you will do, or will not do (and in the case of do, doing it on time). (Note: Requests of you become your word unless you have responded to them in a timely fashion.)

2. What You Know: Whatever you know to do, or know not to do, and if it is do, doing it as you know it is meant to be done (and doing it on time), unless you have explicitly said to the contrary.

3. What Is Expected: Whatever you are expected to do or not do (and in the case of do, doing it on time), unless you have explicitly said to the contrary. (Note: What you expect of others is not for you their word – with others, you must make your expectations explicit in the form of a
request.)

4. What You Say Is So: Whenever you have given your word to others as to the existence of some thing or some state of the world, your word includes being willing to be held accountable that the others would find your evidence makes what you have asserted valid for themselves.

5. Standing For Something: What you stand for – that is,what you say that your life is about – whether expressed in the form of a declaration made to one or more people, or even to yourself, as well as what you hold yourself out to others as standing for (formally declared or not), is a part of your word.

6. Moral, Ethical, And Legal Standards: The moral, ethical,and legal standards which you have not explicitly declined are a part of your word.

Honoring Your Word

Remember, that during the movie, honoring your word (that is, the conditions for realising the promise of the course, and the rules of the game) when you are not going to keep your word means that as soon as you know you will not or may not be keeping your word, you let us know, and clean up any mess left for yourself and others.

In fact, to empower and enable yourself as a MOTHER, you will have to be rigorous in honoring your word, both with those you mother and those who mother you, so this is an opportunity for you to practice being a person of integrity. And, integrity is the foundation on which motherhood is built.