Integrity.  Honor.  It’s that feeling of personal value and worth that comes from the soul; that feeling of inner peace that comes from living in step with ones beliefs and the knowledge that what one is doing is true.  As Robert Louis Stevenson states, “To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive.”.  Not just an indication of your reputation, Honor and Integrity are the internal compasses or guides that make you who you are.

I was reading various articles about integrity and honor on the Internet and found a story about an Air Force Academy cadet, named Juan Nieves.  In his senior year, the staff of the academy or one particular colonel, expelled him from the school.  He’d learned well that honor needed to be defended, and so he defended his own.  In the end, the high-ranked officials found that he was indeed incorrectly expelled and found in their investigations that it was the honor system at the Academy was the cause of his problems.  It had been corrupted by the faculty themselves.  But even reinstatement didn’t stop the problems.  He was denied the opportunity to graduate with his class, and when he did finally graduate, he was alone.  But never did he criticize or complain.  He took his commission and his new rank with Honor.

He refused to let a defeat that was forced upon him break his personal Honor; he worked to defend it and thus showed it to all who met him.

It is through your actions, what you do and how you do it that shows the level of integrity and honor that lives within you.  (288 words)