Becoming people of integrity is not as easy as it sounds. Integrity comes from a Latin word meaning "whole" or "complete" or "lacking nothing". So, for example, if you've ever felt something is missing in your life, it is a sure sign that you have been out of integrity. If you've ever felt someone completes you, it's a sure sign you are not in integrity. The person of integrity is looking for the whole that makes them not need another half, while the person without it is looking for the other half that makes them whole.
In a 2005 article about integrity for New Man Magazine, Orlando Magic's Pat Williams wrote:
Your integrity is the most profound expression of who you are. Integrity is the ultimate expression of your relationship with yourself, of a vow that you make to yourself as to the kind of person you choose to be. If you compromise your integrity, you may get away with it for awhile, but no one gets away with it forever. People who lack integrity eventually get exposed.
To be exposed is not to say that you'll get in trouble or have to answer to some authority. Often-times, you expose you for who you truly are to yourself. Oh! And, I am no different because I am writing this. I have to work on this integrity thing too. I wrote a book about integrity for just that reason, because it truly is The One Secret to All Success. Again, it's easier to think about and talk about, which the book is designed to do - pique the reader's consciousness about the subject. The more challenging thing is to make certain our lives are reflective of a resolve to remain in personal integrity, another goal I hope to achieve with readers of my book. Whatever the case, just be sure you make certain integrity is a watchword in your life.
James Power
Good Morning,
ReplyDeleteThis is so true, every day the choice has to be made to walk in integrity. We are all human beings which means that we are not perfect but to strive for perfection in my eyes means to strive to operate with as much personal integrity as possible.