Yesterday in a class I was teaching at church, the group came up with a definition for humility that has got my mind spinning a little this morning. The new definition for being humble is “a willingness to do what you do not want to do when you know you should.” The more I think about this definition, the more I realize how accurate the concept is.
Think on all the great leaders of our past. They have all exhibited a form of humility which led to greatness. For example, Gandhi went on a hunger strike for 40 days. If you see pictures of his time during this strike, you will notice how humble his circumstances were. The story of Jesus is similar, and in the final moments of his life, we are told that he gave up his will to God. I would argue that moment is the definition of humility. Look at our fictitious heroes of our movies. Luke Skywalker – humility becoming great.
Of course you can be forced to be humble. You can get diagnosed with a difficult disease, you can lose your job, you can have a tragedy occur in your family, someone you trust could betray you – all of these things could cause you to change your behavior and start doing things that you do not want to do. It is easier to be humble when you have to.
However, most the time you do not need to be humble. Most of the time when you wake up at 5am and contemplate running around the block (or whatever you do for exercise) you have a choice. Many times you are not going to want to get up and get at it. You are not going to want to do what you know you should. You are are going to let your personal ambition, laziness, greed, or any other destructive human attribute get in the way and you are going to do the exact opposite of humility. You are going to do what you want and not what you know you should do.
If you have decided on a course, and feel you have the inspiration of God – or some higher power – to do so then the you need to set out on the course. This course will not be easy. You are going to be tried and tested. Your first few days will be great – but the day is going to come where you have to make the decision. Am I going to wake up and do what I do not want to do, or am I going to just be selfish and give up?
So you need to be humble. Accept the will of something greater then yourself and do what needs to be done.
Guy Reams (72)
365 Member
You don’t have to sugar coat your message so much Guy. /s
Here are some thoughts that emerged (stream of consciousness) after I read your post . . .
Being at that moment, when you are faced with the choice you speak of. The fact that you are there requires a conscience that you are listening to. This is good. Imagine a muted conscience or none at all. If you keep your goals kinda fuzzy then you can avoid failure. Or, at least fuzzify the blow . But, a clear vision and supporting goals sets a a clear and powerful judge for ourselves do they not? It is no small thing to manifest potential and create positive meaning in life.
Listening to one’s conscience points the way. But, it almost guarantees failure,
Failure is your friend. I learned snowboarding that if you are not crashing then you are probably not improving. Snowboarding also has no destination. It is the act itself, snowboarding with skill and style on the edge of one’s ability, that is the goal. This is one way I see the practice of The 365 Commitment . As a mental practice that requires finding and riding that line between order and chaos, where we encounter the parts of ourselves that are not humble, and begin to wonder; who is running the show in our lives?
One thing’s for sure, it is unlikely that you will hit something unless you aim at it. Aiming at a state of mind akin to humility that allows us to serve the goals that we generated in concert with the highest good we can imagine seems like good advice.
Thanks for sharing your powerful thoughts on the meaning of humility.
Ben Wagner (51)