Somehow, the moment I hear or see this word, it feels important, huge and of intense meaning. And honestly, I hadn’t come across this word in quite a long time. Yet, I noticed myself recently using it couple of times in my conversations, in my thoughts, also people talking about its absence and that’s when it hit me that we have either made it so normal to forget it or it doesn’t matter until it bothers us in its core.

That’s when I started thinking about it. That’s when these thoughts started flowing into words. Up until this point, I haven’t looked up for the actual meaning of Integrity, to first unveil my thoughts about it and then to check its standard dictionary sense.

Okay, before I start reflecting my thoughts about integrity, let me first put across what does it mean when someone says failure to show integrity. It’s often a gap between their words and their actions, prioritizing personal gain, convenience, like taking credits for others’ work, expecting others to follow rules that you yourself ignore, showing support only when it’s convenient for you, acting differently based on who is watching. (Stating these examples from experience of my own, friends’ and google – See not taking credits 😜).

So, according to me – What is Integrity??
I had never spent much time forming an opinion or understanding about it specifically, but somehow it was naturally inculcated (yes, I cross checked if my spelling was right, and yes I was right 😉) in me, thanks to my childhood and also may be moral science classes. Because trust me, during my childhood (oh damn, wait am I already old enough to use such reference) even though most of the times we would have been exposed to an idea of emotion or values, through families or friends or just social setup, we would only come to know of the official word to an emotion or value through these so called moral science classes or story books or the weekend cartoon series. And as they say, kids watch and learn, experience it to adapt it.

So for me, integrity is something about being honest, pure to your thoughts and intentions or values that you think are right for you and the people around you. It is doing the right thing, even when it is not expected, seen or appreciated. And that right thing being what you believe is right.

I had never actually spent time or paused to think if it’s easier following it, because it was kind of natural for me. So now, to pause and think, yes initially it was easier, never had to spend much time in thinking the consequences or what not. But eventually, you would be put into situations or moments (yeah, that’s life), where yes, you could spend a moment but even then the decision was simple and straight – be YOU.

Okay now, it’s actually very tempting to go and google the definition of Integrity.
Credits to Wikipedia:

“Integrity is the quality of being honest and having a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or earnestness of one’s actions.”

Blah blah blah, too many words! But what I found next is interesting –

“The word integrity evolved from the Latin adjective integer, meaning whole or complete. In this context, integrity is the inner sense of “wholeness” deriving from qualities such as honesty and consistency of character.”

Based on this, my interpretation would be simple, you believe or follow something – be true to that irrespective of time, place, people and the results (Aey no, we are not playing name, place, animal, thing, shhh!). And that’s how your character is seen through your actions.
Now, the question might rise, does that mean we are not supposed to change our beliefs. For that, first of all, one has to have a clear understanding of beliefs and values. Beliefs are something – you create based on your understanding and experiences. On the other hand, values are – what you decide and develop as to how you want to behave, how you want to participate and move through the life.

So, you are allowed to have your own beliefs based on your own reasoning. Hence, anytime you are exposed to a new belief, you should always reason them and then adapt it if it’s necessary to move forward. Because at times, you have to understand that the tools that got us through yesterday won’t always carry us through the challenges of today. Beliefs are only assumptions that we hold to be true. But values are like basic principles which will be with you throughout your journey and all sorts of beliefs.

It’s like beliefs decides what you follow and values become your actions. So both are equally important.

So, before de-railing too much, Integrity in its simplest form is being honest, sincere to your thoughts and actions.

I did not quote ‘right’ here, because what is right is very contextual and a debatable topic. Also, a perspective from a friend of mine made me ponder about this as he stated –  ‘A bad habit filled guy would tell I’m being honest, disciplined in what I do, same goes with good guy. So it doesn’t really matter to people until it affects them personally with whatever definition you carry.’
Okay, before you lose interest, let me put into simple words as to what he meant – definitions of integrity are so deeply personal, others will always judge your integrity not by your intentions, but by how your actions affect them.

So it ultimately boils down to consistently, honestly doing your right thing, even when it is inconvenient, when it costs you something and the only witness is you. It is a moral accountability to oneself. When you strip away public praise, reputation, and contextual definitions of “right,” integrity becomes a private contract. It is the refusal to betray your own standard of decency, your own values even when breaking it would be easier, cheaper, and entirely secret. I would like to end it with the saying ‘Integrity is the hardest virtue to maintain’.

PS: After stating all these, I’m very well aware that at times even I would be making mistakes, learning from them, unlearning what’s not relevant. But ultimately not forgetting me amidst all the chaos. Isn’t that the beauty of life?