Over the last couple of months, I have been rather obsessed with truth, authenticity, lies, deception, and a whole host of other related ideas. Upon reflection, I have been thinking about another concept, altogether. In reality, the concept that has eluded me, and the concept that I wanted to discuss, is simply Integrity.

While more and more complex theories have led me somewhat astray, this last weekend (with quite a hang-over and in the coffeeshop in a casino in Reno), I was able to finally articulate the concept. Integrity is both important, as well as extremely abstract. But, I will try to articulate a definition, and then contextualize it later.

My definition of Integrity goes like this: Integrity is the behavior that governs the decisions that you make. Acting with integrity incorporates current events, self-awareness of your actions, and the relationship between those two. You, acting with integrity, would make the “best” choices that incorporate all of that information. The simple definition of just, “Do the right thing,” does not encompass the concept accurately. Although, if you act with integrity, you will always “do the right thing.”

The most troubled part of Integrity is the simple phrase, “best.” I do not believe in Absolute truths (he says, absolutely). From a relativistic framework, the most slippery part of Integrity is the making the “best decision” because what may be the best choice may not be the best if you had different, or more information. In fact, this is a great place to reference the entries on Authenticity, Truth and Lies, and even the entry about Unexpected Advice. The more information you have, the more complex it may be to make your decision with Integrity.

I have discussed many of these concepts over the past couple of weeks without any contextualization. The motivation behind the discussion is that I am truly grateful because I have surrounded myself with people of Integrity. I may have only a few friends, but every one of them acts with Integrity. And, of those friends who are married, they have all married people who have it, as well. My family is the same way. And, Integrity is also a concept that I try to embody in my own decision making process.

If you have no Integrity, there is a slim chance that I will ever have room for you in my life. It may sound like a soap-box or a threat, but it is not. It is merely the best choice with my current information. Why would I subject myself, my friends, or my family to the consequences of poorly made decisions? Why would I want to bring someone into my life who doesn’t strive to make the best decisions? I owe it to myself and my family to seek like-minded people.

People with Integrity wanted. No need to apply. I’ll recognize you.