integrity
Integrity A goal that everyone hopes to reach, a quality that many falsely claim to have, and a way of life that is seemingly difficult to live by. I’m not even sure people really know what the word means, yet I personally hear it used all too often. It is to have a firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values. It is to be unimpaired in everything. Some would say to have this they must be perfect. It is something that is almost unattainable yet talked about and used so carelessly. What is it that I am referring to? Something a wise man named Martin Luther King had. It is something that we all hope to one day be, and will talk about one day getting there when in reality the American way of living keeps us from reaching that goal. It is integrity that I am writing about. It is something that we all strive for as we live our day to day lives as lies. It is something that is talked about but never acted on. Integrity seems to be an unattainable trait by many and that is due to the fact that it is so much easier to get through life taking short cuts and lying. People fear confrontation and hard work and that is why we lie and cheat our way through situations. Now I’m not saying that theres no integrity in life at all. We all, (well mostly all) have morals and rules that we live by and follow. There is a bit of integrity in all of us, some more than others, but nonetheless it is there. There are many factors that influence and support an integrity filled life. The economic state that you live in, the physical state you live in, as well as the emotional state you live in all influence how much integrity you have. To live with integrity is to literally integrate what you think, know, believe with what you say; and to integrate what you say with what you do. I think many factors influence person to have integrity. Who a person looks up to as a child may determine the type of person they want to grow up to be. Ethics are the foundation on which