Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity.

– W. Clement Stone

Recent news of dishonesty and fraud fueled by greed has many people reflecting to revise their definition of “integrity”. Having integrity begins from within and follows with one’s acting honestly. The extent of having integrity goes even further by having the courage to question or hold others accountable for acting without integrity. Some will not speak up when someone is dishonest or doing something wrong. Our concept of right and wrong develops by the way we are raised, what we experience and what factors influence us. Our conscience defines what is right and to act with integrity is clear. If our conscience tells us it is wrong, do not act on what you feel is wrong.

I read a funny parable about a donkey. One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the donkey was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey. The farmer invited his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed shovels and began to shovel dirt into the well.

At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. A few shovel loads later after not hearing the donkey cry anymore, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished! With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey would shake it off and take a step up. The farmer’s neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the donkey as he continued to shake it off and take another step up. Pretty soon, the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off! Life is going to shovel all kinds of dirt on us.

 Each of our troubles is a stepping stone to help us get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up. Remember four simple rules to be happy: Free your heart from hatred–forgive; free your mind from worries–most never happen; live simply–appreciate what you have; give more–expect less. Now…the end of the parable: The donkey came back and bit the farmer who had tried to bury him. The bite got infected and the farmer eventually died. The moral of the donkey parable: “When you do something wrong and try to cover your ass, it always comes back to bite you.”

Not only for the reason of getting caught or “bit”, do your best to always act with integrity. Do something nice for people as often as you can with genuine sincerity and pick up a copy of the Happy Herald to share with a friend or better yet, go to www.HappyHerald.com and see our new easy-to-read format. Now you can effortlessly email any article or advertisement to share with friends and family. Also be sure to check out our video of the week: “Flying Penguins”, a twominute documentary that the BBC created for April Fool’s Day.

Stay Happy, Brigitte