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6.2 Personal IntegrationVersion 1.2 January 2018 (Previous Version)
This Chapter discusses how we can strive for personal integration, to avoid cognitive dissonance, to live in a consistent way, to be whole or to be authentic. The next section looks at physical health. People interested in this section, because it will be hugely controversial, include ● psychologists, psychiatrists, counsellors, psychotherapists, psychoanalysts, etc; ● teachers, pastoral care workers, and so on; and ● all those who promote their version of emotional or psychological or spiritual self-help. As discussed in Part 1 (Philosophy) it is unreasonable to hold inconsistent beliefs and values pulling us in different directions at the same time. Doing so can cause mental confusion or even anguish, waste our time and effort as we go to then fro, and damage our reputation if we seem hypocritical. Our beliefs and values must be coherent, integrated. An integrated personality is also a primary indication of mental health, leading to the greatest happiness or personal fulfilment. We must live with our selfish, physical, animal natures – our visceral (physical) emotions, such as lust and disgust, as well as our mental feelings of love and distaste. We must also follow our enlightened self-interest and acknowledge the compassion (whether it be strong or weak) that is within most of us. We can improve our happiness by achieving our goals – or lowering our expectations. We must learn how to make reasonable goals and plans that are consistent with real world reality and our abilities. As we grow up we need to work out who we are, how we view ourselves and what roles we will play in society. This covers our sexual, ethnic, national and religious identity as we interact with society. Further, it would be foolish to blithely disregard the non-verbal so called ‘spiritual’ feelings of awe, majesty, wonder, unity and connectedness that many of us feel. We need to know how we can reconcile these experiences with a reasonable understanding of the reality they are part of. For many people, maintaining psychological health is easy, but most of us experience problems at various times, and for some of us it is an ongoing struggle. We can, and many of us do, choose to live authentic lives, to avoid deceiving others and ourselves, to accept the realities we have to deal with, and yet to live coherently, consistently with our values. We propose to look at personal integration under the following headings:
As stated in the chapter overview, this is the current summary of our conclusions in this area: From moment to moment, we are continually making existential choices based on our situation, experience, knowledge, planning ability and feelings, and we are more effective, happier and fulfilled if we our choices are authentic, integrated and consistent, realistically addressing our physical, mental and social needs. more Statement 29 The following pages explore these topics in more detail.
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