Our revered ancestors understood instinctively that being true to one’s self or to be a person of integrity means having a personal standard of morality and ethics that does not sell out to expediency and that is not related to the situation at hand. Unfortunately, integrity is in short supply today and getting scarcer. But it is the real bottom line in every area of society. And it is something we must demand of ourselves.
There is a story told about a surgical nurse’s first day on the medical team at a well-known hospital, for a patient’s abdominal operation. The nurse said to the surgeon, “You have only removed 11 sponges, and we used 12. We need to find the last one.” “ I removed them all,” the doctor declared. “We will close now.” “You cannot do that, sir,” objected the trainee nurse. “Think of the patient.” Smiling, the surgeon lifted his foot and showed the nurse the 12th sponge. “You will do just fine in this or any other hospital,” he told her. The lesson is when you are right, you cannot back down.
Another famous example is of Dr. Jonas Salk. As a medical scientist, he developed the vaccine for polio, which at his time was one of the most epidemic diseases in the world. Rather than sell his vaccine and make a fortune, he released it for free for the greatest public health benefit. Because of his integrity, the world is now almost free from polio.
Further, always give others credit that is rightly theirs. Do not be afraid of those who might have a better idea or who might even be smarter than you are. If we intentionally use people of smaller outlook than ours we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each one of us aligns with people who are bigger than we are, we will become a company of giants.
Again, be honest and open about who you really are. People who lack genuine core values rely on external factors – their looks or status – in order to feel good about themselves. Inevitably they will do everything they can to maintain this facade, but they will do very little to develop their inner value and personal growth.
Do not engage in a personal coverup of areas that are unpleasing in your life. Face reality and be adult in your responses to life’s challenges. When you do things that are not genuine or a reflection of the real you, you will not be happy with yourself and will end up confused. Self-respect and a clear conscience are powerful components of integrity and are the basis for enriching your relationships with others.
When you are true to yourself, you allow your individuality and uniqueness to shine through. You respect the opinions of others but do not conform to stereotypes or their expectations of you. You do what you do because it is right and not just fashionable or politically correct. It requires you to be introspective, sincere, open-minded and fair. It does not mean that you are inconsiderate or disrespectful of others. It means that you will not let others define you or make decisions for you that you should make for yourself. The celebrated inspirational writer, Alan Cohen, sums it up so succinctly: “You are in integrity when the life you are living on the outside matches who you are on the inside”.
