Real Humility
May 30, 2009
There is an impression in our culture that humility means self-hatred, or avoiding praise when one deserves it but leaping at the chance to take punishment. And I’ve seen a number of people chase desperately after this behavior so that they can be what they call humble, but this is not humility.
Real humility does not say that you are less than others, that is self-deprecation and it is a destructive behavior. When you are humble it does not mean to assume that you will fail. That creates self-fulfilling prophecies.
Real humility does not seek to distort your personal image negatively nor positively. Real humility says things like “I am human, I am going to make mistakes, and thats ok.”, “I can learn something from everyone”, “I am not higher than any person, nor are they higher than me” or like the attitude of the most serene elders I know “I am young and dumb till the day I die”.
That is humility, not self-destruction, not the “I can’t”s but the acknowledgment that you are still learning and mistakes are part of that process. It is not the casting down of yourself, but of not putting others below you; thus raising them with you. So don’t let the voice of self-deprecation and doubt pose as a virtue. Humility is good, just make sure that its real humility and not self-doubt in disguise.
Entry Filed under: confidence,happiness. .
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