integrity

Many people are just laughable; they feel like insignificant nonentities. Even when they're wear beautiful suits. Perhaps especially when they wear expensive clothing. They lack something what is often called 'charisma'. I have always distrusted this word. To me it always seemed 'small persons' didn't have a shortage of charisma, but of integrity. Let me explain. I define and experience charisma as a social ability; it's a (difficult) trick to force your personality onto others. To ask of them to have very special consideration for you.

Integrity is something else entirely. This is about deeply knowing who you are. Being complete and whole. Being somebody who found himself. Integrity, from my point of view, isn't just 'being moral'. Rather, it is 'being ethical'. Integrity comes after having seen life from multiple perspectives, after having lived from multiple perspectives. It demands thinking and experimenting with morality, in order to reach a higher, ethical, point of view. A person who went through such a process knows much better what's real, and what's not worth considering.

So we roughly have four possibilities, from best to worse; integrity and charisma (1), integrity but no charisma (2), no integrity but charisma (3), no integrity and no charisma (4). Learn something from this scheme. Do not judge people easily. If you meet a type two person, you're likely to regard him or her as insignificant. Which is a complete misjudgement. If you meet a type three individual, you're likely to be deluded, unless you are very charismatic yourself. But then again, are you totally sure you have something extra, besides a highly evolved integrity?