Humility

Have you ever met a person who ISN’T humble? You know the one – ego centric, a bit ‘full of themselves’, who never learns from others, and who seems to be the one always doing the talking? There’s nothing attractive about this kind of person. In contrast, the humble person is positive, a pleasure to be around, they always seem to listen, they are confident in who they are, and there’s something magnetic about them.

To really understand the value of being humble, we need understand what humility actually is. Humility needs redefining.

Humility is often defined in the wrong way. We tend to link humility with words such as ‘timid’ or ‘shy’ or ‘hesitant’ or ‘quiet’. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Humility is an admirable quality, characterized in the person who is confident in who they are, who is not arrogant and prideful, who doesn’t consider themselves inferior or superior to others, and who believes the best about people.

Nelson Mandela put it better than I ever could:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.”

Nelson Mandela

Let me encourage you, go back and read the quote again. Nelson Mandela understood the influence and strength of a humble person. Read it again right now.

This week’s assignment:

Do you need to redefine humility for yourself? Do you believe in yourself? Do you ‘let your light shine’ so that others can feel confident to do the same? This week, be confident in yourself and confident in the amazing-ness of others (OK, I know that’s not a real word but it works, doesn’t it!) and exercise humility by being teachable and learning something new every day.

Enjoy the journey,

And more importantly,

Enjoy the moments.

🙂

Megan

P.S. Next week, in Part 2, I will be sharing some practical suggestions for how we can become more humble (in the proper definition of the word). See you then 🙂

QUESTION: Think of a humble person that you know. What do you like about them? What makes them ‘attractive’? You can leave your comments here.