Humility is the ability to give up your pride and still retain your dignity.” Vanna Bonta quotes
True humility is intelligent self respect which keeps us from thinking too highly or too meanly of ourselves. It makes us modest by reminding us how far we have come short of what we can be.” Ralph W. Sockman quotes
Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.” Norman Vincent Peale quotes
Oh lord it’s hard to be humble….when I wrote my manifesto I wasn’t feeling particularly good about myself…I wasn’t conviced I was worth a whole lot, interesting that I chose to “remain humble” In hindsight it was a very good idea. For as we seek self esteem we can take it too far can’t we? I am glad I have this reminder to stay sane inside insanity.
This week my reward for remaining humble? Less back pain. By remaining open to new ideas, for not believing what I knew was the end all be all I learned a few new tricks that helped me relieve some serious back trouble. What a great experience to let go and be open to what may come and to be rewarded so immediately.
Stay Present
Practice Patience
Cultivate Gratitude
Maintain Flexibility
Be Kind & Gentle
Remain Humble & Open Minded
Forgive, Forgive, Forgive
And above all else
Love Deeply
Humbleness gets a bad rap sometimes. Some might say it’s a bit wimpy, but the more I learn about it the more I feel it sort of takes the pressure off of us…sort of a “let go and let god” attitude. for if our gifts are from source we don’t have to try and create more — Elizabeth Gilbert has a great talk about this concept. By not taking credit for our genius we also don’t have to live up to it in a sense — we are merely a conduit and that is a humble place to live that also feels so freeing.
Let’s break it down a bit …
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// (hmbl)adj. hum·bler, hum·blest 1. Marked by meekness or modesty in behavior, attitude, or spirit; not arrogant or prideful.Humility in Hinduism – To get in touch with your true self, whether you call that God, Brahman, etc., one has to kill the ego. The Sanskrit word Ahamkara literally translates into The-sound-of-I, or quite simply the sense of the self or ego. When this sound is stilled, you are in touch with your true being.Humility is considered an important virtue in taoism. The following quote describes how a wise person should see his accomplishments, according to the Tao Te Ching (77.4)
- [a wise person] acts without claiming the results as his; he achieves his merit and does not rest (arrogantly) in it: — he does not wish to display his superiority.
In Christianity: To be humble, then, doesn’t mean to be self-loathing but to acknowledge our need for God’s mercy. To be humble doesn’t mean you don’t like yourself, but it does mean that you know you can’t climb to heaven on the strength of your own flawless spiritual performance. To be humble means to acknowledge that you want to do better, to be a better person, and to acknowledge that God can and wants to help you. To be humble, as a Christian, means to have a realistic self-assessment and to have hope to change for the better.
—Synonyms
1. Pride, conceit, self-esteem, egotism, vanity, vainglory imply an unduly favorable idea of one’s own appearance, advantages, achievements, etc., and often apply to offensive characteristics. Pride is a lofty and often arrogant assumption of superiority in some respect: Pride must have a fall. Conceit implies an exaggerated estimate of one’s own abilities or attainments, together with pride: blinded by conceit. Self-esteem may imply an estimate of oneself that is higher than that held by others: a ridiculous self-esteem. Egotism implies an excessive preoccupation with oneself or with one’s own concerns, usually but not always accompanied by pride or conceit: His egotism blinded him to others’ difficulties. Vanity implies self-admiration and an excessive desire to be admired by others: His vanity was easily flattered. Vainglory, somewhat literary, implies an inordinate and therefore empty or unjustified pride: puffed up by vainglory. 5. boast.
Here is where I struggle…looking to find that place of humbleness yet feeling good about who I am and what I can do…humble does not have to mean self deprecating or a lack of faith in our abilities…that is another trap of ego. Stepping into our gifts and graces is a way to honour what source has given us, to deny those abilities is a form of pride gone wrong — living in our full glory. Accepting that we are diving beings and full of power and grace and then simultaneously realizing that this is true of everyone around us.
Or “Remember you are unique — just like everyone else” 🙂
Asana of the week: Trikonasana
I chose this pose because this is one that used to get me in trouble when pride came into the picture. Going too deep would seriously strain my sacrum, but gosh darn it I was going to go all the way into the pose…PRIDE and EGO …with practice I am letting go of that self identification and am able to practice postures in a humble manner — that accepts where I am today, here and now…do you have a “prideful” or a “mindful” practice? Are you willing to skip poses that don’t serve you?
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