Integrity is a personal value. It’s about doing the right thing regardless of the circumstance. When you have integrity it means you live your life with a moral compass where you treat all people and situations with fairness, truth, decency even when no-one except you will know what you did.
Wow integrity is serious biz. It matters a lot of how we see ourselves as people. So let’s take a look at integrity.
Have you ever had moments in your life where you did not say or do what you felt you should have? I have. There have been times in my life where I did not follow my very own personal moral compass of doing what I felt in my heart was the right thing. My instincts would be yelling at me to do the right thing. Because of my fears and insecurity I did not. After I did not listen to myself and did not act in a way I felt was the right thing to do I felt crappy about myself.
There came a point where I decided I had to do what my moral compass was telling me to do regardless of the situation. Regardless of what others would say to me. I have to live in my skin. What others say about me or to me was not as important as what I say about myself. I would dig deep, summon every ounce of courage and speak my truth. It was scary, painful, and freeing. Yep freeing. The more I listened to my moral code of integrity and took action it felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulder. The response of some people was less than kind. Some individuals would hurl statements in attempt to demean me, regardless of how kindly I used my words to take my stand. I shielded my soul with my armor of strength, respect, honor. I did not hurl insulting, mean words back and I did not back down. I had to do what was right.
When we live our lives with integrity there are times it can be rough. At the end of the day for each and everyone of us we deserve to go to sleep knowing that we did the right things to the best of our ability. That our personal integrity is intact.
There is a part in the movie “Legally Blonde” where Warner tells Elle to share a confidential alibi that the defendant told her not to share. Because it would “help” Elle move ahead in her career. Warner’s take was for Elle to think about herself and to not care about the defendant. Too often we say that “the end justifies the means”. Does it? How so? If the “end” is tainted because you did not use your “means” of integrity how good is it? You will be the one to know that your achievements are not your truth. You will know that the kudos you are getting are not deserved because you embellished your work or took credit for the accomplishment of someone else. Seems like when we do not use our personal integrity and honor we defeat and demoralize ourselves. What kind of end is that?
Amy Rees Anderson is an article in Forbes Magazine said: “We live in a world where integrity isn’t talked about nearly enough. Sales people overpromise and under deliver, all in the name of making their quota for the month. Applicants exaggerate in job interviews because they desperately need a job. If I could teach only one value to live by, it would be this: success will come and go, but integrity is forever. Integrity means doing the right thing at all times and in all circumstances, whether or not anyone is watching. It takes having the courage to do the right thing, no matter what the consequences will be. Building a reputation of integrity takes years, but it takes only a second to lose, so never allow yourself to ever do anything that would damage your integrity.”
Deserving, incredible people if you are not already living your life with integrity today is a great day to begin! For those of you already living your life with integrity you keep going! Every single one of us is imperfectly perfect. Live your life with truth, honor, respect, integrity. When you do, you will totally feel better about yourself as a person. Will there be times you will need to dig deep to stand your ground and speak your truth? Absolutely. You can do it! I believe in you! I believe you deserve to treat yourself with tons of integrity. You so matter!
May your integrity be with you💜
Photo by Andy Chilton Unsplash.
