Of the things I hold on tightly to – in addition to the people and creatures I love and care about – is my integrity.  I have learned over my decades on the planet that integrity is critical in making life decisions easier and living with the decisions that are made.  Not that it is easy to come into or easy to maintain – it takes tremendous commitment to maintain one’s integrity.

Having integrity does not mean you are perfect or holier than thou – having integrity means that you walk your talk consistently.  It is essential to being genuine.  It is the place where your truth lives naked.

I try to teach my students about the power of integrity.  I encourage them to learn early to be consistent in word and deed – to mean what they say and do what they say.  I want them to realize young how powerful it is to be genuine.

I do not know how many of them it sinks in for.  Every once in awhile, a student will tell me that they value the message of integrity and they are striving to build greater integrity.  This I understand.  Integrity is not a genetic predisposition, it is a growth process that is helped or hindered by circumstances and role models.  It can years to be comfortable with the nakedness.

I think a world with a whole lot more integrity would be a nice place.  I think integrity has been devalued over time.  Perhaps it is the distance the internet allows or the complexities of society (or a thousand other things), but the sense of personal responsibility for being a person of integrity seems to have faded from being a popular value.

But there are still folks preaching the value of integrity and trying to share with others why it is so important.  I am one of those people.  Not a perfect person and not always at perfect ease with my naked truth, but resigned to be at one in word and deed – that’s me. 😉