I got a question for ya…can you detail for me what integrity is? Hhmmm…that’s what I thought. See, Integrity is one of those nebulous concepts and ideas that is very difficult to describe. It’s like nailing Jell-o to the wall. The little bugger just won’t stay still. :-)
So…since we can’t really give a good definition, let’s turn to dear old Mr. Webster and see what crap he’s trying to offer us today.
Integrity - firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values – He also lists a synonym as being Honesty.
Hmm…OK. I can buy part of that. But let’s make a definition that sounds a little bit more useful and workable in our own lives. Walk with me for a bit.
Integrity is the essence of everything successful. - R. Buckminster Fuller
So, what IS integrity? A code? Code of honor. Code of the Brethren Court. Code of conduct. Code Red. Red alert!!!! OK…I’m done. :-) A code just doesn’t seem right. It makes the idea of Integrity seem like a list of rules, or maybe, “more like guidelines…” But that’s not it at all. Integrity can’t be summed up as a 10 Commandments for your life. Rules stifle and take away and limit. Integrity frees a person and allows this world to become limitless for them.
Integrity is a way of life. It’s a union between the person you are and the way you choose to live. But even that isn’t complete. It’s about living a life that isn’t about compromise. A life where you are who you are and you do what you say you’ll do and lying simply isn’t an option.
If you don't have integrity, you have nothing. You can't buy it. You can have all the money in the world, but if you are not a moral and ethical person, you really have nothing. - Henry Kravis
We keep seeing the words MORAL and ETHICAL in relation to Integrity. Can you have one without the other? I don’t think so. I guess that you could be moral without having Integrity, but then you’re probably not very consistent with your own morals. :-) Yes…being moral and ethical is a part of having Integrity, as is being honest. Integrity combines SO many ideas and values and character traits. Besides honesty, morality and ethics, you can find compassion, faith, love, courage, and a whole host of others interwoven together.
And yet…in spite of having such a breadth of character traits that it covers, Integrity is really a sharp point. It is either there or it is not, regardless of the other traits presence. It is the beautiful combination of all these other things into a complete whole that is undivided from the core being that embodies it all, that makes Integrity the powerful idea that it is.
Integrity is not a conditional word. It doesn't blow in the wind or change with the weather. It is your inner image of yourself, and if you look in there and see a man who won't cheat, then you know he never will. - John D. MacDonald
So, look at what I just said. Simply HAVING those traits is not enough. You have to make those traits a part of who you are and then begin to live according to your core. You have to have the faith in yourself and the core that you’ve built to not bend or break in the face of…well…ANYTHING. It’s a day in and day out kind thing. Integrity is a lifestyle. It’s really one of the most beautiful lifestyles that you could choose to adopt. Yes…I said choose. Integrity is something that you can build…provided that you have a basic foundation to start from.
I bet you want to know what the foundation is…and how you can build some Integrity. Oh…you’re not…OK…Ima go get some lunch then. :-)
The foundation…you already know. Build you a foundation of the Heroic Traits. Those will give you the start of a foundation upon which to build your own Integrity. OK…you’re thinking now, I’ve already been working on the Heroic Traits…does that mean I have Integrity? Well…no. Integrity is actually applying those Traits in your life and everyone else’s life you touch. No matter how brief that touch is. You must also build a VERY strong sense of personal courage. You won’t be able to live a life of Integrity without living courageously.
Courageously…from your heart. I know you can do it. :-)
Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity. - W. Clement Stone
2 comments:
Knowledge, application, analysis, synthesis. Making things a part of one. It all leads here, doesn't it? Right on, Brandon!
I don't know. I sort of like the definitions from the dictionary. They tell me exactly what I need to know about the subject. We seem to be over complicating all these issues with the redefining route, and in the in I find that our new definition doesn't actually say anything.
Let's look at some actual entries here, in their completeness and without leaving anything out.
moral soundness; "he expects to find in us the common honesty and integrity of men of business"; "they admired his scrupulous professional integrity"
Here's Webster
Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code; The state of being wholesome; unimpaired; The quality or condition of being complete; pure
Notice the definition says adherence to - it isn't about the code, it's about what you do with it. The Bible in it's entirety is a moral code - and if you adhere to it (that by the way would be the action you refer to in your blog :D ) then you are a man or a woman of integrity.
As soon as you went off with - "SO what is integrity? A Code?" I groaned in my spirit.
We've sidetracked off on a tangent that ignores the content of the definition above it.
In order to do a good word study we have to define all of the words in the structure, not just the word we are trying to redefine.
So let's look at the word adherence, or adhere
1: to give support or maintain loyalty
2obsolete : accord 3
3: to hold fast or stick by or as if by gluing, suction, grasping, or fusing
4: to bind oneself to observance adhere to the rules
The integrity isn't the moral code it is the ADHERENCE to the moral code. - integrity is living by and being immersed in, holding fast to as if being stuck by glue or fused to. It permeates in other words and is inseparable from our being.
When we break down the words leading up to it then it all makes perfect sense. In fact- it says our whole 'redefinition' without saying everything we've said in trying to redefine it.
To be honest, I'm finding all of our redefining more complex and less definitive than going in and doing a simple word study on the complete definition. To really be complete we'd need to hunt down steadfast, complete = etc
But dude, write on - get these thoughts out and don't worry whether or not I agree with your context ;)
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