Here are a few thoughts in response to recent events in my life.....I think each of you can relate in same way or another.
             Loss in any form is just a part of life, but it's the way you react to it that makes you who you are. Losing your girlfriend or your six-figure salary are never easy things to swallow, but it can be worse. In fact, it will be worse. 30 years from now you will look back at the way you handled situations, and you will be the harshest judge of your character. You will be the Russian judge in your life's skating competition. Now, we are all 8's in our own eyes. We're not perfect 10's because others would think we are egocentric. We're not 1's because we know in our minds that we are better than that. We are surely 8's.
             Worse than losing status or losing money is the realization that you held up the wrong score card all these years: you aren't the 8 you thought you were. Worse than that realization is only one thing: Losing your integrity. Integrity is your uprightness of character. It's every reason inside you to be honest. It's your soap crate in life's town hall meeting. It's your integrity that helps you stand up against the school bully. It's your integrity that fuels your drive to succeed at your own personal goals and for the common good. Integrity is the gateway to accountability. Without integrity, the decisions you make possess no more than apathetic feelings. Therefore, you care not about its results. Integrity is the blue on a black day. Integrity is your ability to recover after being laughed at yet another time. Integrity is your strength. Yes, integrity is you.
             I have realized that people have lost sight of the importance of integrity, and it's disheartening. It's discouraging to accept the fact that people's integrity falls by the wayside when personal gain steps onto the pi
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