Integrity...Take II

I had such a great response from yesterday’s blog on Integrity. I heard such positive feedback from many of my friends and associates that I thought I would delve a bit more on the subject in hopes to not only help myself, in sort of a self realization as I write, but to also assist others who are wanting the same. A good friend commented on my article saying that Integrity was not just a word, but a way of life. He is so true because we either live a life of integrity or we don’t. There is no in between. As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog, a liar is a liar and does not have integrity high on his or her list. People who tell small lies start that way and eventually tell larger lies and so on. We have all heard of some top executives in our corporate world who no doubtingly started earlier on in life telling small lies which then led to a larger mess, not just for themselves, but for the innocent. We owe it not only to ourself, but to others. We have all heard of the “ripple effect”, where everything we say and do can chain react infinitely. The great thing about living a life with integrity is that it does not cost any money. Integrity is free for all who want it. I mentioned yesterday that to me integrity means being a man of my word and I still stick with that, but I also, after hearing such great assessments, understand now that to be in true integrity, there is more.

I heard a great story once that I want to share with you in hopes you can put yourself in that situation or perhaps reflect on a similar situation that may or may not have happened to you in the past. Here it goes. There was a woman, who we’ll call Sally,was down on her luck and finances. She ran a small catering business and would do small parties providing all the food and appetizers. She was really having a hard time in making ends meet and just downright in a dark place, so she felt. A rather generous man entered her place of business and asked Sally if she could prepare a feast that evening for a large birthday party for him and roughly forty other people. This man gave her two thousand dollars and told her he did not have the time to discuss what type of food or spread to have but to just just whip up something special that everyone would like. Sally was so excited that she told the man she would be happy to do it and would get right to it.

Sally began doing the math in her head and realized that she could cut some corners on ingredients and use some left over stuff that she had to really make a significant profit on this endeavor, which she so desperately needed. She figured that she could probably pocket a thoudsand dollars if she cut corners and used lesser quality foods than she would normally do. So Sally went to the freezer and found some rather old and freezer burn meats and breads and quickly salvaged them to create an, extravagent as she could, array of food. Sally put everything together just in time to get over to the destination where she would deliver and set up the feast. As Sally entered the hall where the party was, lights suddenly flashed on and everyone screamed “Happy Birthday”! Apparently many of her friends and family had put this surprise birthday party on for Sally, knowing that she had been down on her luck and wanted to do something nice for her. I think many of you at this point understand where I’m going with this. Sally’s stomach almost dropped, suddenly realizing what she had done and what everyone was about to eat. Lets just say no one really commented on the food with a great deal of enjoyment.

The moral we all learn here is Sally was not living in Integrity because she felt no one would ever know or tell. Sally knew and she felt horrible, perhaps more horrible than she did prior to getting the business in the first place. Someone is ALWAYS watching and we need to live our life like that. I don’t mean to think we have to always look over our shoulder, but we need to act and serve every minute of our life as if we were on stage and the whole world was our audience. If we all did this we would probably behave in a more integral way and live that life of excellence we all desire, I hope. If you like to sing, you don’t have to be just a shower singer. Be who you are and be proud of it!! Go out today and begin small strides of living the “right” way, with Integrity!!!!

Make it the Best Day Ever!!!!