Integrity

Let's just assume that you are a teacher in nursery school. You are walking in the road on one sunny saturday, sweat drip on your forehead, you carry one heavy load at your hand. As you are walking, one of the kid in the class you teach run up to you and stop you, and asked “Uncle, why do you always say that a person should be true to himself?” That kind of question can shock you a little, but it will also make you to reason deep. Because in this life which is full of hustle, problems, and temptation, to be true to yourself is one of the biggest challenge which a person can face.

In simple way to be true to yourself can simply means that you won't be pretending, and you won't be wearing mask just to please people. It's when your inside and your outside match together. For example, if you are a person which doesn't like lies, but because you want to impress people you keep lieing anyhow, you are not true to yourself.

However, it's just as if you are wearing borrowed cloth that doesn't fit you. To be true to yourself mean that you know who you are, you accept it, and you don't shake anyhow because of what people say. Many people do live fake life just to show that they are “enjoying.”Truly this kind of people are really suffering very hard inside.

Promise is a serious issues too. If a person tells you “I will do,” truly you will expect that it will happen as he said . But if they don't keep to their words it will be painful than insult. Promise is like agreement which can build trust.

Imagine that your friend promise you that he will lend you money to pay rent, and you wait. If he later not show up, you can even lose your house. That’s why promise is very important. It's promise that makes relationship strong, whether its family, friendship, or business. However If you just keep breaking promise anyhow, people will stop to trust you.

Honest and nice is a two different things. Honest mean you will say the truth, even if it will pain another person. Nice mean that you will talk or act in way which will make a person to feel good, even if it's not the full truth.

For example, if your friend cook food that is not sweet, honesty will make you to say “Guy, this food is not really sweet o.” But being nice will make you to say “Ah, you really try o the food sweet, but maybe next time add more salt.” Honesty do build respect, niceness do build comfort.

But if you are always nice without honesty, people will ake you for fool. If you are always honest without being nice, people can call you wicked. However try to know when you have to be honest and when to be nice also, so that you would not hurt anybody unnecessarily, and you won't deceive them too.

This one is serious problem o. I will say I won't do it. However , loyalty is important, but loyalty doesn't mean that I will spoil my own integrity. If my friend ask me to lie for him, I suppose to reason it very well.

For example, if the police catch my friend for something very serious and he plead me to join him to lie as witness, that small act can even land in prison. That one is not loyalty, it's foolishness. The best way to help is to advise my friend let him face the truth. So the reason I won't lie for him is because lie is always sweet at the beginning for beginning, but it's always bitter at the end.

So me, I'll tell my friend , “Guy, I won't lie for you. If you respect me, you should respect my truth too.” That way, you I will protect myself and I'll teach my friend a better and lifetime lesson.

Life is tough though , but one thing that can make it easier is if we are true to ourselves, keep our promises, know the difference between honesty and niceness, and don't lie just to please people. It's these little things that build character. And character is the real wealth which a person can have.

Cc:
@sahmie