Integrity

Since I was young, my parents have always encouraged me to be an honest person. I'm not sure if its because of my religious background, or my conscience, but I've always felt the need to be honest.

I've always been honest. I am not the type of person to say one thing, then do another. I don't tell someone they look good if they don't. I don't lie to my parents. I don't lie in relationships. I don't lie to my husband.

One thing I've been learning since being married is how to keep my mouth shut. My family is a very open, loud, and honest family that will tell you when your being rude, when your doing something that isn't right, and will always give their honest opinion. Although we are loud, honest, and obnoxious, we all seem to get a long quite well and our families cohesiveness just works. As I said before, my parents taught me to always be an honest person. If I didn't agree with something someone was doing, I'd tell them, even if it had nothing to do with me. I know that isn't my business, that's just who I am. Tyson on the other hand, is a peace giver. He is always the one that makes peace with situations, and is always the one to calm others down in a heated argument. He doesn't like people getting their feelings hurt, and he doesn't like people not getting along. That's what I'm trying to learn - to be the peaceful one. It's soo difficult when someone you love is being hurt and you can't open their eyes to a situation.

But have you ever been lied to? Have you ever felt that feeling of distrust after finding out the truth? Have you ever felt so betrayed because someone was dishonest?

Where is the line between your integrity and doing things you shouldn't? I've come across a lot of dishonest people in the past few years. It's disheartening, knowing that people have to tell others things that are not true in order to live or prevent themselves from getting in trouble. It's just plain wrong. Tyson and I have an open and honest relationship. I'm grateful for that. I've seen couples that hide things from each other. I'm grateful we don't hide things and we can always be honest with each other. We are best friends, and I think because we are best friends, we share everything with each other. Regardless of what we may have done, we have a relationship that the other person can be there, and we never put ourselves in a situation that may hurt the other.

When Tyson and I were dating, we had a lot of relationship bumps. We broke up, got back together, almost monthly. It wasn't because we were young, it was because we both were scared of the future. Somehow, I kept coming back to Tyson because he was my best friend. I couldn't live without him. I never hid anything from him. He always knew my password to my phone. He had the option to look through my Facebook messages several times. We had no secrets. I think that's why our relationship has been so strong. Some couples aren't as fortunate.

So why would you stay in a relationship if you weren't in love with your best friend? And how many chances do you give them, after their integrity and honesty is questioned, and with good reason? How  many chances do you give your 'partner' when they were caught in a situation that hurt you? I have a friend going through this right now. As I mentioned above, I'm learning to keep my mouth shut. Two quotes come to mind for my friend. 1. Once a cheater always a cheater. 2. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

So at what point do you say enough is enough? When do you decide that person isn't good enough for you? And when do you start being honest with yourself and saying 'this isn't going to work out, and I don't deserve this'.

XOXO

Andrea