Humility

Humility has never come easily to me. I do not know how anyone can possibly maintain any humility, without having anyone to point out all their faults to them. So what is humility anyway, these virtues we’re suppose to have' The dictionary does not help much at all. If you look up "humility," it says that it is the condition of being humble. Look up "humble," and it says that it is an adjective describing a person who has humility. But both describe "humility" as the opposite of "pride". Humility is the orphaned virtue in the community. A community is a place of friends. An urban society is a landscape of strangers. Yet there is an irrepressible human urge for recognition. Therefore a culture emerges out of the various ways to try to get other people to notice. Humility is one of the most expansive and life-enhancing of all virtues. It does not mean undervaluing yourself but it means valuing other people. It signals certain openness to life's splendour and the willingness to be surprised or uplifted, by generosity wherever one finds it. We often confuse humility with timidity. Humility is not clothing ourselves in an attitude of self-abasement or self-denigration. Humility is all about maintaining our pride about who we are, about our achievements, about our worth it is the arrogant pride which often leads to the derailment of some. It is about being content to let others discover the layers of our talents without having to boast about them. It is a lack of arrogance, not a lack of aggressiveness when in the pursuit of achievement. When we approach situations from a perspective of humility, something interesting happens. It opens us up to possibilities, as we choose open-mindedness and curiosity over protecting our own point of view. We spend more time willing to learn from what others have to offer. We move away from pushing into allowing, from insecure to secure, from seeking approval to seeking enlightenment. We forget about being perfect and we enjoy being in that particular moment. There are many benefits when practicing humility, to being in a state of non-pretence. It improves relationships across all levels, reduces anxiety, encourages us to be more open and enhances one's self-confidence. It opens a window to be a better person.