Humility

 Humility

According to the Webster dictionary definition of humility, is the state of being humble. The definition of humble is low modest, unassuming, not prouder haughty and not pretentious. For majority of my life up until now I was not aware of living with humility. However now that I am aware I am able to show and practice my humility, I don’t watch TV much but I love watching movies and I have noticed humility as a common topic and word used by celebrities and successful people. Isn’t it ironic how the celebrities and stars that so many people look up to will speak about how they have used the attitude and mindset of humility in order to become successful and make it to where they are today.

Showing humility consists of being humble and being less self-centered. Understanding that the world does not revolve around you. You are just as important and equal to everyone around you because we all are children of our creator. No matter what your religion or beliefs are, I believe we are all linked and have equal importance. None of the religions teach us to discriminate and spread hate around the world, or to hurt one another. Yet it is spread everyday in horrible ways.

Being humble also consists of you accepting that you do not know everything and don’t have all the answers. It helps to not behave like you do know everything, and also when you do have the answers you don’t go out and do it in a show off manner.

It is very important to remember that no one persons views, beliefs, customs or talents are beneath you. We are all unique and equally important in our own ways, and we will always be able to achieve more and accomplish more by working together in a productive, positive manner. One way I like to remember humility along with my personal definition for it is “ thinking about yourself less, not thinking you are less“..

I struggled with humility and I accept this. It is the reason I chose to continue moving in the right direction and practice more humility daily. Although I was a kind humble and modest person my humility was not as good as I thought. I had an incomplete understanding and I did think of myself as less which caused me to have low self-esteem in school growing up and at work when I was older. My low self-esteem caused me to have a lack of confidence in myself and in my abilities to do things and get stuff done.

Another way I struggled with humility is all the times I failed to share with others. I was very selfish and only shared with people who I could use and benefit from. Instead of helping others in need, by volunteering I only helped out in places where I would see something in return. I believe now it is good for your soul to give back and find opportunities to serve others and not expect anything in return for my efforts.

Another major way I struggled with humility was in my relationship with my family. I’m not proud of this but through my teenage years and early adult life, I remember having many misunderstandings with my humble and modest parents. My parents were immigrants and them having a lack of English proficiency, made me feel like I was above them. I felt like I was hot stuff and did not have to listen to them because I knew more. All the advice and help they were giving me was taken for granted and I did not pay heed to their wisdom they had tried to share with me. Being that I grew up in America and they were immigrants I believe their advice and knowledge was useless for me. Instead of giving them the respect they deserve for all the sacrifices they made for me and our family to be here, to move from a Third World country, literally from a small village to the big apple New York City. I had failed to give them the respect for the best that they have done.

My parents tried very hard to help me with my negative habits and get me off my addictive behaviors of indulging in alcohol and drugs. I ignored and neglected them just so I can continue to indulge. It was my way of fitting in and dealing with my negative emotions. It was my way of getting the confidence that I lacked in myself and was able to get threw external substances. I failed to acknowledge and accept my issues with addiction so I neglected the help from my family and put my drug use before them.

This behavior was so negative and destructive that I only engaged and made friends with people who would use drugs with me. For the people that didn’t, I thought I was better than them because they couldn’t get as high or handle the liquor. I was proud all for the wrong reasons. I also behaved in a way that I knew all the answers and I know more than others so when I would talk to others I was cocky and talked down to them. I looked at them as if they were ignorant and beneath me. The thoughts I should have kept in my mind and my self talk was that “ everyone is unique and different and we all have our own talents and beliefs and we are all equal individuals“.

Being a humble individual can help build stronger relationships with other people. This is because when you are humble and do things not only to benefit you but others around you, you can become a role model for others. You will be able to treat your coworkers and employees as team members and give them the same respect that you would want for yourself in return.

Practicing humility has helped me learn how to use empathy in my relationship with others. Empathy is the ability to put yourself in others shoes and understand their feelings emotions and thoughts. This will help you be more aware of your actions and behaviors when interacting with others so that you treat people with respect, the way that you want to be treated.

It is important to remember that you’re feelings and emotions are just as important as anyone else’s. When you remember this and incorporate it in your self talk you will begin to act in a less self-centered manner which will give you a new perspective, a new connection to the world around you. You will have a new viewpoint and be aware of how your actions affect others.

When you are more, considerate of others and are able to be courteous to them with the attitude of humility you will be able to learn about others cultures customs and beliefs. With this new gain and knowledge from others you can better yourself even more. I am a firm believer in self-help and self-help is a lifelong process and commitment. Remember that you do not know everything and every day is an opportunity to learn something new to better yourself and to acquire more understanding about others and the world around us. If you commit to self-help and working on yourself, you will see progress even if it is just one day a week. Being consistent is key and practicing more will yield greater results. If you follow and practice this attitude more often, even every day will increase your absorption and understanding of this attitude which will strengthen your foundation of the attitudes and help you achieve greater success and fulfillment from life.