This Too Can Be Yours for the Low Low Price of Your Integrity

The last couple of days have been very eye opening for me as a citizen of the world. Personal decisions and fallout from past decisions made by people close around me have had me doing some personal inventory. New definitions have popped up and new, important life lessons have been learned.

But most of all – I’ve been thinking about the cost of being yourself and doing what’s right. Even if we try to do the right things, good people still get shafted.

Everything in this world has a cost. And I’m not talking about consumerism (although the fact that I’m addicted to a $4 Starbucks drink that is essentially coffee and milk astounds me). I believe that every action we do, from the big grand gestures to the tiniest of niceties, will end up with us paying for it in the end. And most of that cost comes at the price of your integrity.

I’ve come to think of it like this: Integrity is like an allowance.

You guys remember allowance right? Your integrity (allowance) is given to you in your own personal set of morals, principles, and ethics (bills and coins that make up your allowance). When you come across life decisions – work, home, or personal happiness (candy, toys, and other stuff you want to buy) – you pay out some of your allowance to get what you want.

Unfortunately, what we don’t realize is that when you pay out a little of your integrity, compromised or not, somewhere along the line it’s going to cost you. But no one ever remembers that part! It’s like you’re in this spending spree of wanting to “be true to myself” or “do what’s right for the whole” or “stick to my guns” yet we forget that WE EVENTUALLYRUN OUT OF ALLOWANCE! So, while you’re blowing your allowance on that awesomely cool yo-yo and comic books you saw at the store on Monday, you’re not thinking about the fact you don’t have lunch money for the rest of the week.

If you are human with a shred of decency, your integrity is important to you. And while we’re foaming at the mouth to defend it – do you ever think about the consequences of your actions? What does saving (or spending) your allowance do to you in the end? I’m not saying I’m for compromising your integrity. Nor am I saying that you should stick to your guns in every single situation.

What I am saying is that whatever you decide to do – know that there might be a downside to it all.

We make our choices and we have to live with them. I would love to be able to say that nothing bad ever happens to good people, but I’d be lying. People who don’t bend their integrity are admirable. When there comes a point in my life where I have to decide between my integrity and bending my rules – I almost always choose my integrity.

Hold fast to your integrity however you want. Just be aware: If you are the “honest friend” who wields opinions like a blunt instrument, don’t be surprised when your friends don’t want to talk about sensitive issues with you. If you always show a stiff upper lip at being slighted for recognition – don’t be pissed when they pass you over and never talk about you! If you insist on going against the grain politically – don’t look shocked when the carpet of power gets yanked out from under you.

So when you’re out there, living your life and choosing your options – just be aware of the possible consequences. You’ve got to decide if the decisions you make are worth the outcome.

If you splurge and spend your entire allowance on X-Ray Sunglasses, beware that they might not work out.