INTEGRITY- Your Best Friend

“When I lay down the reins of this administration, I want to have one friend left, and that friend is inside myself”~ Abraham Lincoln

 Despite all the negative publicity and trials in his life, Abraham Lincoln remained resolute in being a man who for the greater part of his existence stock to his convictions and made his inner self confidence his best friend.

You may begin to ask what integrity is after all and why is it important that one should waste his precious energy penning down his thoughts on it.

Have you ever wondered why, someone on the same mission with you, all of a sudden decide to play a different  tune from the earlier agreed music without a strong and convincing reason, may be just because he has a personal interest to protect.  Am sure the next thing that will come to your mind is; he is not a man of his words. 

What does it mean to be a man of your words? It means that you are a man who for the greater part of your days can not be caught off-guard between your words or convictions and your actions. It therefore means, you are someone who exhibits the precious virtues of honesty, strong moral principle, and moral uprightness; the state of being whole and undivided.

Therefore, integrity can be defined as the strict adherence to moral and ethical principles, soundness of moral character. 

 The online encyclopedia, Wikipedia defined integrity as “a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations, and outcomes; the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one’s actions”.

The word “integrity” is from the Latin word, integer meaning whole, complete. We can therefore say that integrity is the inner sense of ‘wholeness’. 

It is about choosing your thoughts and actions based on values and not personal gain. 

In the words of Malcom X, “If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything”.  

What do you stand for? Does your inner self exhibit a positive wholeness which can be recognized at all times?

The essence of this discuss is to awaken our consciousness to the fact that it pays to be a person with a recognizable conviction, and by extension whose stand and actions at all times is in consonance with his inner self. Choosing to do the right things, for the right reason, even when no one is watching, especially at the work place and even your home; can simply define integrity.

Remember that whatever you do in life reflects on you and the people around you, therefore, it is a life of wholeness, when you take responsibility for your actions, own up to your mistakes,  and learn from them to become a better person.  Yes people will always try to convince you to give up on your character or integrity, taunting you that nobody is perfect. Just to let you know that there is a difference between striving to be perfect and being perfect; the former is integrity while the latter is futility.

As you choose to make integrity your best friend, I will to leave you with these wise quotes; 

“Keep true, never be ashamed of doing right; decide on what you think is right and stick to it.” George Eliot

“Whoever can be trusted in little things can also be trusted in great ones; whoever is dishonest in slight matters will also be dishonest in greater one” Luke 16:10

“Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Philippians 4:8