Integrity

Yesterday, I heard a reel-to-reel tape converted to mp3 of the night my grandfather was elected to a justice court judgeship. The recording is some 13 minutes long and starts off with some telephone calls from what I imagine were the local gentry.
Listening to him field those calls made my mind wander imagining what he must have gone through to put up such a campaign. Granted, it is a small community in which he lived, i.e. Dinuba, California, nevertheless, campaign he did. In one part of the recording he tells someone whom I believe to be his sister that he has campaign voice. That was the morning after the election and she was calling to congratulate him on his win. I believe that he presented himself to be a man of principle and that is what carried the day.
In his voice you can hear the tone of a steady man. Appreciative and gracious, but steady in his words and confident in his actions. That is saying a lot when you think that this attribution is based on 13 minutes of tape. Of course, it is based on so much more. 37 years of information to draw on.
Every person I have ever known held him in the highest regard, speaking fondly of his memory. There never seemed to be to much emphasis placed on any one characteristic, so I would say that a man of integrity was speaking that night. I do not think that anyone could deny that a person of principle was fielding calls, and when a person like that speaks you are drawn to what you hear.
Are people born with integrity? I don't think that it is an innate feature bred into us. It has to come from the environment. Can such a characteristic be distilled into our children? I hope so, but the question remains: is how I am raising my children instilling into them the desire to be a person of integrity? Only time will tell whether my making them stand up for themselves and each other and the principles they believe in will be enough. There is more to it than that, no doubt. But what is the core subject matter to which they must be exposed? This has to very from person to person and family to family. I do know one thing, however, it must be taught by immersion. There can never be another option: do what is right even when nobody is looking.
Integrity is something that will be or should be important to every man, woman, and child. Without it there cannot be trust to act as promised or expected after a time. I think that confidence in oneself and others is integral. Who is watching me should never be considered. When you meet people like this, people who display such a quality, hold on to them tight. They seem to be in rare supply these days.
Thought of the day is off topic: Have you ever seen a statue of a critic.
dp