The Value Of Integrity - Anvesha Rana

Reading Chapter 18, The Art Of Focus
Honesty Wins
Human Quality: Integrity

Honesty is a value, but integrity is practice.

We can be honest without having integrity, but we can never have integrity without being completely honest. Being truthful to others is honesty and being truthful to yourself is integrity. A lot of people are honest, but hardly a handful possesses integrity. Honesty is visible to others, but integrity is the amount of transparency between the world and us. 

Trust is a vital factor for integrity. If we have confidence and belief in ourselves, we can only do what we deem right, but if we don't trust our instincts, we may end up being wrong. Faith in oneself should be the maximum, and it should be such that even if we are wrong for the entire world, we will still do what we think is right. 

The king gave seeds to everyone for planting, and the one who grew the best plant would be rewarded, but no one had the ingenuity to arrive with an empty pot. None of the people trusted themselves because the prospect of the award made them blind to any sign of failure. Still, only the young boy was truthful, confident, honest and humble enough to accept his defeat and admit that the plant hadn't grown even though he had tried his best. 

We all need to be like the boy. We need to be transparent enough in this world of opaque people, learn to absorb the rays of happiness and hope and let them penetrate through to others, and be solace to others in times of hardship. 

Anvesha Rana, 

Grade 10-B, 

Gyanshree School 

Beating The Odds - Shambhavi Nautiyal

 

I absolutely agree with the chapter and how it describes our behaviour and self-consoling excuses. This seems quite relatable as I have seen this same thing going all around me while growing up. It still has not stopped, and people still do it. I’m not going to lie;this chapter shall help other students and children in becoming vigilant about how this habit of consoling ourselves of not achieving something because of a reason which may not even affect us.Eventually resulting in becoming a hurdle in the path of success. I too used to do this often whenever I messed up and regret my decision but, in all honesty, I’ll shall now try to not do that and handle the situations while just letting it go and do my utmost. This chapter showed aspects of the lives of different people(such as, Bethoven, Rolls Royce, Steven Spielberg, Jean- Dominique  Bauby) with distinct bodily disabilities which soon turned into their abilities, setting ideals for kids and many other aspirants. In my view this chapter gives the message of believing in ourselves, letting go of the fears and negative possibilities, dreaming about whatever we want to be or wish to do, and just try. 

We should never think that we can’t do something because of a body disability, a financial condition, support system, misfortune or anything which we cannot change.

Thank you!

Shambhavi Nautiyal
Grade VII
Ahlcon Public School