Integrity is having an uprightness of character or action. It implies trustworthiness.
We know our code of honor; we know when we show a lack of integrity–in other words, when we are not trustworthy.
Do we like people who don’t have Integrity? When our friends lie to us, do we think it is okay? This seems like a very basic quality we should learn when we are younger, but somehow it misses the boat.
It is very important to develop integrity within oneself. When we lie, cheat, steal or deceive, we hurt ourselves. We damage our self esteem. We never want to do something that makes us view our self as someone without integrity. How can we like people who lack integrity? You, yourself, don’t like those kinds of people, so make sure that you aren’t one. Everything always comes down to liking yourself, so you can love yourself, so you can have confidence and be happy.
People treat us differently when they can not trust us. They don’t open up to us, therefore we prevent close relationships from happening in our lives. People are afraid of sharing personal information with us, so this only allows a very shallow friendship.
It is so much nicer to be able to have close relationships that we can share our dreams, our upsets and our fears with, knowing that they will honor us, by keeping that information to themselves and not sharing or gossiping with others about it.
If we want friendship with people that have integrity, we have to have integrity, that is just the way the world works. If you lie to your friends, they will never believe your words again. It will be impossible to trust you, therefore limiting your
relationship.
If we are doing things that hurt other people, and yes lying, cheating, and being dishonest indeed hurts others, and guess what, it hurts us too. When we are people we don’t like, it damages our self esteem. We become people we don’t like and if we are people we don’t like, our sense of self suffers.
When we have low self esteem, we tend to make everyday decisions in our life through that space instead of a confident place. Can you see how that could affect our life? Because the decisions we make, create the life we live. So, if we are out there making bad decisions, how do you think our life will look? Take a moment and think about it.
It’s safe to say that having Integrity is important, it is a part of who you are. So, in looking at who you are or who you want to be, think about: do you have integrity?
