Integrity

Integrity. 

"The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles."

Children of my generation grew up learning about Honest Abe, and George Washington admitting he could not tell a lie after chopping down the cherry tree. One of our favorite Disney stories was Pinocchio, where the little puppet's nose grew each time he told a lie. 

Sometimes it looks like integrity may have gone out of fashion along with the extra wide bell-bottoms we used to wear. It seems with the twenty-four hour news cycle we are constantly bombarded with a lack of honesty, but unfortunately it appears that very few people seem to care anymore. 

I keep hearing about someone needing to share their truth, and it makes me wonder if there actually is the truth? Today I might sound a little more preachy than usual, but it makes me wonder if the virtue of integrity never actually was or has it just grown passé?

It seems to me that people who live their life with integrity might just avoid some of the pitfalls that dishonesty can bring. The idea of choosing the straight and narrow might be a way to avoid causing pain for yourself and others. 

Teaching our children not to cheat to get ahead, and to live their lives in an honest fashion is always left to the generations before. This might be one of the most important jobs that we are given, and shouldn't be forgotten. 

What are your thoughts about integrity? 

"Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody's going to know whether you did it or not."

Oprah Winfrey