Integrity: defined by Peighton

It's the Integrity That Counts.
Integrity: The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness; so to break it down, being honest and always doing what is right. We all know that this is a lot easier said than done. Integrity is something we should all find important and strive to achieve. It’s something you have to work towards; most aren’t born with it. So in order to achieve this so called “integrity” you have to really want it, and be willing to work for it. Honesty has always been important to me throughout my entire life but that definitely doesn’t mean I haven’t told my share of lies, everyone has. But it takes a person with strong morals to actually own up to their lies and tell the truth.

When I think of integrity, the first person that comes to mind is my great grandmother. She actually passed away three years ago this thanksgiving, and I have yet to stop thinking about her. She will forever be my role model. I have so many memories of her and in all of them I never once remember her being dishonest or doing the wrong thing. But I do have one specific memory with her that I’ll never forget. One weekend, I was staying at her house and we were going to go grocery shopping. When we got there, I noticed a raggedy old man standing by the door holding a sign that read “Will Work for Food.” I, being pretty young at the time, pointed at him and before I noticed what i was doing my grandmother knocked my hand back down by my side and told me it wasn’t polite to point. We continued into the store and proceeded to shop for groceries. As we walked throughout the store, I noticed my grandmother was particularly quiet, which was a very rare thing. She always loved talking to strangers and giving me lifelong lectures. I always thought her lectures were long and boring back then, but what I wouldn't do to have her sit me down and lecture me today. As we were checking out as I asked her if she was okay. I can still remember her exact words, “I can’t stop thinking about that man. I’m sure he’s had a rough life and if he had the chance he’d do it all over again but differently.” I didn’t understand why back then, but when we walked back out of the store she walked over to the man handed him twenty dollars and said, “Use it like you know you should,” and simply walked to the car. When I think back to it now, I have never witnessed anyone besides my great grandmother giving a homeless person twenty dollars. Most people these days say “They deserve it; they got themselves into this mess,” which could be true. But do we really know that? And even if it is true, who are we to judge them? My great grandmother never did, and I don’t plan to. Why, because I want to be like her. She was a strong-willed woman with strong morals and was always honest.

To me, my grandmother was integrity.