Integrity

When I was in high school I had a naval instructor for junior rotc that made us tell him the definition of integrity at least weekly after someone demonstrated a violation to his code.  It stuck hard in my head and I have made it stick in the heads of my children.

With integrity you can't allow yourself to take the easy path all the time. You are forced to see what your values are and make a choice.  You will be letting yourself down before you let anyone else down if you don't do what you know is right.

The decisions can be simple like; Should I workout today or not? or Should I eat that piece of cake?.
The decisions might be more lasting like deciding to cheat on your spouse or steal something you didn't pay for.

The first part of this is defining what is right and wrong.  You have to find the answer to that for yourself based on your own personal values.  As a word of warning, don't rely on popular culture to define this for you.  Our popular culture is shaped by companies and corporations that are trying to sell product and stay profitable.  They want you to believe that what they are selling you is good for you and actually going to make you popular.

Sometimes it is helpful to see the decision in the hands of someone you respect.  You've seen the bumper stickers, WWJD.  What would Jesus do? This is the concept even if you aren't a Christian you can still use this example.  Knowing Jesus was supposed to be God among and did not sin, then picture the decision you are about to make and imagine what He would do.

Make good decisions today.