音频下载[点击右键另存为][00:00.54]Passage 25. How to Be Ture to Yourself

[00:06.12]My grandparents believed you were either honest or you weren’t.

[00:11.15]There was no in between.

[00:13.23]They had a simple motto hanging on heir living-room wall:

[00:16.40]“Life is like a field of newly fallen snow;

[00:19.57]where I choose to walk every step will show.”

[00:22.20]They didn’t have to talk about it—they demonstrated the motto by the way they lived.

[00:27.67]They understood instinctively that integrity means

[00:31.83]having a personal standard of morality and ethics

[00:34.67]that does not sell out to selfishness and that is not relative to the situation at hand.

[00:40.25]Integrity is an inner standard for judging your behavior.

[00:43.86]Unfortunately,integrity is in short supply today—and getting scarcer.

[00:48.90]But it is the real bottom line in every area of society.

[00:52.73]And it is something we must demand of ourselves.

[00:55.68]A good test for this value is to look at what I call the Integrity Trial,

[01:00.71]which consists of three key principles:

[01:03.23]Stand firmly for your convictions in the face of personal pressure.

[01:07.49]When you know you’re right, you can’t back down.

[01:10.45][01:07.49]Always give others credit that is rightfully theirs.

[01:14.06]Don’t be afraid of those who might have a better idea

[01:16.69]or who might even be smarter than you are.

[01:19.09]Be honest and open about who you really are.

[01:21.93]People who lack genuine core values rely on external factors

[01:26.31]—their looks or status—in order to feel good about themselves.

[01:30.04]Inevitably they will do everything they can to preserve this appearance,

[01:34.42]but they will do very little, to develop their inner value and personal growth.

[01:39.88]So be yourself.

[01:41.09]Don’t engage in a personal cover-up of areas that are unpleasing in your life.

[01:45.89]When it’s tough, do it tough. In other words,

[01:49.40]face reality and be adult in your responses to life’s challenges.

[01:53.34]Self-respect and a clear conscience are powerful components of integrity

[01:58.37]and are the basis for enriching your relationships with others.

[02:01.87]Integrity means you do what you do because it’s right

[02:06.14]and not just fashionable or politically correct.

[02:08.88]A life of principle, of not giving in to the seductive sirens of easy morality,

[02:14.79]will always win the day.

[02:16.32]It will take you forward into the 21st century

[02:19.92]without having to check your tacks in a rearview mirror.

[02:22.99]My grandparents taught me that.