I Factor: Integrity Matters

By P. Carter Earnshaw

Theft is the only sin. Boots on the ground. Balance. Doing the right thing when no one is looking. Its better to be trusted than loved. Dont rent space in your head. Be a gentle giant. These are the beatitudes of integrity. Persons with integrity dont just strive to take the high road; they live it. Natural laws and behavioral science affect the physical and the metaphysical as well. Our credibility is defined by our integrity and not necessarily by what we have accomplished. We build that credibility by living a life, cognizant or not, in step with the science of integrity. Our integrity is measured in four groups: personal, social, moral, and structural. The I in I Factor stands for integrity. Living the I factor will develop your character into the person that your colleagues, friends, and family members will trust and respect. Implementing programs that put the I factor in the heart of managing will create respectful and productive work environments. When people honor great men and women during award dinners and in their eulogies, you inevitably hear, He was a man of great integrity. When bridges fell, news anchors would chagrin, The integrity of the bridge was compromised by the years. My grandmother, from her rocking chair, said, Paul Carter, dont ever give up your integrity. Its the only thing your children will remember you for.

It drove me crazy. I needed to know without a shadow of a doubt the true meaning of integrity. I did not find it in the dictionary or encyclopedia but in the character of great men and women. If we emulated the I factor in our lives, our economics, our politics, and our moral compass for the synergy of social interaction would see positive returns. There would be no hostile work environments. We would know the joys of life and liberty, and peace would be the norm around the world and in our minds. Before you read the I Factor, ask yourself, Do I believe I have the I factor? Do others see the I factor in me? Read this book, and you will have your answers. Dont just seek the high road. Live it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Jul 14, 2017
• ISBN: 9781504383165

P. Carter Earnshaw

P. Carter Earnshaw, author of philosophy, children's stories, and science fiction, studied journalism and political science at the University of Utah. Carter pursued his passion as a Radio News Broadcaster and a Writer. He grew up in Woods Cross, Utah, a predominantly Mormon farming community. Following a two year Mormon mission in Queensland, Australia, Carter came to terms with his homosexuality and moved to Reno, Nevada, where he met his soul mate and started a new life. He continued to write, but that too was marginalized by a succcessful career in Transit Management. After retiring, he devoted his time to publishing his first book, "The I-Factor," the the seven beatitudes of Integrity. Carter's travels around the world have inspired him to address the social cancer of Fascism in his historical fiction Work, Bite. He finds his solace in Nature where he discovered that the metaphysical is abundant as the tangible beauty of it.

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Copyright © 2017 P. Carter Earnshaw.

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ISBN: 978-1-5043-8315-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-8317-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-8316-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017910819

Balboa Press rev. date: 07/14/2017

CONTENTS

Why Read This Book?

Prologue

The Beatitudes of Integrity

Personal, Moral, Social, and Structural

Personal Integrity

Moral Integrity

Social Integrity

Structural Integrity

Integrity at a Glance

Serenity Prayer

Law One Balance

Law Two Don’t Rent Space in Your Head

Law Three Boots on the Ground

Law Four Theft is the Only Sin

Law Five It’s Better to Be Trusted Than Loved

Law Six Do What’s Right, Even When No One Is Looking

Law Seven Be a Kind and Gentle Giant

The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Self Esteem Test

What should have saved us has been killing us: religion.

Social Balance Politics of the Farm

Natural Laws

The Tale

Editorial

PERFECT SOLUTIONS FOR AN IMPERFECT WORLD

THE

I FACTOR

LIVING

BY

NATURAL

LAW

FINDING THE BALANCE

BY P. CARTER EARNSHAW

To my handsome moral muscle, astutely intuitive and kind friend and husband, Yuen Fong

WHY READ THIS BOOK?

Understanding natural laws inspires us to build infrastructure with the integrity to withstand natural disasters. But other natural disasters are metaphysical. The success or failure of short- and long-term relationships, whether professional, personal, or social, is based on similar science. The Integrity Factor is a reputation that transcends all perceptions, not forged in counterfeit promises, stifled by fear, nor demonstrated by unfair remedies for the narcissistic advancement of a cause or financial gain. The seven natural laws (that I coin the beatitudes) are not just cool endearment phrases that satisfy the heart and develop credibility. Integrity is a reputation of living by natural laws, a science of behavior that will withstand natural disasters of human failure, self degradation, xenophobia, intolerance, and defeat.

PROLOGUE

You may have tangible wealth untold,

Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.

Richer than I you can never be,

for I had a mother who read to me. —Strickland Gillilan

When it all comes down to it, whatever it is, our brief journey on Earth can only be summed up by the mantle of our integrity. Our mantle of integrity is the legacy that lives beyond the grave. And there is one sure thing about life: no one survives.

My favorite saint, Francis of Assisi, said, Blessed is the servant who loves his brother as much when he is sick and useless as when he is well and can be of service to him. And blessed is he who loves his brother as well when he is afar off as when he is by his side, and who would say nothing behind his back he might not, in love, say before his face.

What does it benefit to tenaciously seek a legacy rich with integrity? If there could exist a state of utopia—free of war, discrimination, and poverty, where all souls feel they have value—integrity would be a substantial and integral prerequisite.

Regretfully, there’s no magic juice to add to the drinking water. Integrity is caught, not taught. You can teach its principles, but to a large degree, one must live by those principles to understand its benefits, earn respected credibility, have humility to be receptive, and have discipline to stifle any emotional resistance to it.

I love this quote from Mother Teresa, who dedicated her life to the service of others, namely the less fortunate and sick. Whether fact or fiction, Mother Teresa’s legacy has been elevated as the model of integrity.

People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway. If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway. For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway. (Mother Teresa)

Behind the granite walls of the Salt Lake City Temple, my husband, niece, and nephew waited in the gardens for the wedding party to appear through glass egress doors of the secret chambers where the wedding was conducted. Following the photo session, my eight-year-old niece was disconcerted as to why she and other non-Mormons were not allowed into the Mormon’s secret chambers to participate in the ceremony. I replied, Because we have integrity.

Huh? she asked, still perplexed.

You have to be perfect to enter their temple, I replied, knowing there was no clear and reasonable answer.

She didn’t buy a cent of it, as we always taught her not to rent space in her head.

So they lied? she snapped aversely.

As the wedding party exited the temple grounds through a small gate in the wall, a middle-aged female panhandler and her two children conspicuously challenged the philanthropic Mormon teachings. One by one, the do-gooders ignored their plight. I took out the only change I had in my wallet, about two dollars, and placed the coins into the hand of her small son. Buy your little sister an ice cream cone, I said.

Thank you, Sir, he answered. He obediently gave the change to his vagrant mother, as he seemed trained to do.

A male member of our family chagrinned, Why waste your dollar? She’s just going to buy a bottle of booze with it.

Is that true, Uncle? my inquisitive niece asked, looking up to me with a perplexed expression on her face. Is she just going to buy alcohol? Why would you waste your dollar on her?

I smiled at her and squeezed her hand slightly. I didn’t do it for her. I did it for me, I answered.

Before reading on, ask yourself, "Do I believe I have integrity? Do I believe that others see me as a person of integrity? Does it even matter?

I hope after you have finished reading The I Factor that you have your answers.

Integrity is defined in the Webster’s dictionary as adherence to moral and ethical principles, soundness of moral character, honesty, the state of being whole, unimpaired or perfect condition. However, how we measure integrity is often skewed by our religious and political ideology. Is it even possible to measure integrity without looking into the dark secrets of the human ego? Even heroes have untold moments of shame and vulnerability. Regardless of our pride and prejudice, natural laws are constant and consistent, and integrity is defined by natural laws. And although the standard is extremely high, no one person is able to earn integrity’s title without forgiveness and humility. Integrity is not measured by the total of one’s bank account, winning a popularity contest, or the number of friends on Facebook who like you. Integrity is choosing what’s right over what’s convenient. People with integrity do the right thing, even when no one is watching.

THE BEATITUDES

OF INTEGRITY

FIRST NATURAL LAW

Balance

SECOND NATURAL LAW

Don’t rent space in your head

THIRD NATURAL LAW

Boots on the ground

FOURTH NATURAL LAW

Theft is the only sin

FIFTH NATURAL LAW

It’s better to be trusted than loved

SIXTH NATURAL LAW

Do what’s right even when no one is looking

SEVENTH NATURAL LAW

Be a kind and gentle giant

In life, there are four basic integrities:

PERSONAL, MORAL, SOCIAL,

AND STRUCTURAL

Integrity has been used to describe the state of four human conditions: personal (reputation), moral (beliefs), social (political economic), and structural (physical). Again, integrity is defined in the dictionary as adherence to moral and ethical principles, soundness of moral character, honesty, the state of being whole, and an unimpaired or perfect condition—a tall order for mankind.

We’ll address all four states of integrity and the applicability of each of the beatitudes or natural laws. The Webster’s dictionary defines natural law as a body of unchanging moral principles regarded as a basis for all human conduct or an observable law relating to natural phenomena. A natural law is consistent and unchanging in principle and practice.