“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
No one ever said living your life with integrity would be easy. Integrity is much
more than just a core value, it is a principle that is under constant challenge both from within and from without. Internal challenges to integrity have no direct effect on others. You resolve to lose weight but give in to the urge to eat that piece of pie. The desire for gratification overpowers the internal conflict and you give in, even knowing you will regret it later. External challenges to integrity are in a totally different category simply by virtue of the fact they involve others.
When external challenges dictate that we must compromise our integrity for something we know inside to be unfair or unjust, even though “going with the flow” would be the easy way out, truly living a life of integrity means, as Mr. Stone so eloquently put it, we must have the courage to say no. We must have the courage to face the truth. And we must do the right thing. Anything less is a breach of integrity and that my friends, is the cause of many a sleepless night. I want to know when my head hits the pillow that my conscience is clear – that I gave the day my all – and that my integrity is 100% intact.
It’s easy to do the right thing when it benefits you, but life doesn’t always go that way. People don’t always do the right thing. Companies don’t always do the right thing. Governments don’t always do the right thing. When those situations occur, you may find yourself in a position of having to choose between your own self-interest and your integrity. Choosing integrity is always the right thing to do.
Life is going to come at you like a steam roller. Sometimes life is going to succeed in knocking you down. Those are the times when your integrity is truly challenged. Those are the times when you must ask yourself the really tough questions. Will I have the courage to say no? Will I have the courage to face the truth? Will I do the right thing because it is right?
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montyrainey 