Concept for Spirit: Remaining Humble

Lately I have had a big dose of drama in this so called life.

Taking from what I have learned these past years in the realm of spirituality, I have been able to overcome much of the drama and maintain a sense of inner peace. Even though I have reached this point, it really doesn’t stop life from happening and situations from testing my resolve. Deep inside I know that this is the way it is supposed to be, and I have held firm to my faith that everything is going to be okay and there is a blessing in every situation. With all that has gone on for me the past few years, month, weeks, and days there is no room for being lazy or losing faith. Staying the course to truth is not for the faint at heart, but somehow it has become my path, and on this path I have had to stay strong and keep moving to survive. One day I might write a book about all the drama, but right now all I can do is stay focused on the fact that there is a purpose in the path that I am on, even if I can’t see it right now. I have definitely not reached a point of perfection, and I have made many mis-takes along the way. I am such a sensitive soul that I feel the emotional bumps and bruises along the way of this so called life and sometimes I let it control me. That’s when I realize I am taking life too seriously, and I try to hold on to the principles I have learned along the way.

For the most part my big problem lies in the dysfunction I faced as a child, and I have a mind that has been trained to find a certain level of comfort in chaos.

As a mother I have big conflict of interest here. I have to ask myself, “Should I stay in my comfort zone or step out of it for my children?” I have to remember at this point that life is but a dream, a huge quantum illusion, and the dynamics of anything contained within life are way beyond my understanding. The bottom line is that I will never get a satisfactory answer to this question, because in the grand scheme of things this question is completely irrelevant! What I perceive as chaos contains a blessing somewhere, and if I remain focused on what I perceive to be a problem then there is no room in my view to see the blessing! This can be a hard reality to face, but I try to get to a point where I release my attachment to any particular outcome. I replace it with a sense of faith that a higher power has complete control over the direction and outcome of my so called life. With this line of thinking with most problems I have noticed that my ego is hung up on pride and overcoming it with humility has been effective in my life. There have also been many symbolic situations that have occurred lately such as when I have been in a direct position to teach humility to my teenage sister. I told her being humble is giving up and giving in to something bigger and more powerful because you have respect and have faith that their way is the way. My words to her were of course the words I needed to hear myself, and I realized I needed to focus on incorporating the concept of humility into my life.

Upon researching humility and what it means to be humble, I found that many others have already embraced this concept and there are many resources available on the topic.

The book Humility: True Greatness says it well:

“A battle rages within every one of us every day. It’s the clash between our sense of stubborn self-sufficiency and God’s call to recognize that we’re really nothing without Him. It’s pride versus humility.”

You can learn more about humility online, and you can find a page on WikiHow called ‘How to Be Humble’ which gives a step by step process for achieving a sense of humility, plus the tips and warnings below:

Tips

• Keep in mind that being humble has many benefits. Humility can help you be more content with your life, and it can also help you endure bad times and improve your relationships with others. It's also essential to being an effective learner. If you think you know it all, you won't be open-minded enough to seek out new knowledge. Humility is also, somewhat counter-intuitively, an excellent tool for self-development in general. After all, if you feel superior, you have no incentive to improve. Most of all, being humble allows you to be honest with yourself.


Warnings

• Pretending to be humble isn't the same as being humble, and often people who pretend to be humble do it in order to seek out praise. Other people will recognize this, and even if you fool some, you won't derive the same benefits as you would through actually developing humility.

• Similarly, don't confuse being humble with being sycophantic (being overly-praiseful of someone for your own profit). This is a common misconception, but the two attitudes are completely different.

You can read the entire article on 'How to Be Humble' here.

You can also find many books on Amazon which discuss humility and being humble from many perspectives:




The book Humble Leadership: Being Radically Open to God's Guidance and Grace sums humility up well by saying:

But a humble leader says to God, "I'm yours, no matter where you call me to go, what you call me to do, and how you call me to be. I will seek your will and way as I lead others to do the same."

This is a quote I try to keep in mind when times get tough and my pride starts to get in the way of my spiritual progress. Learning how to be humble can bring you a state of inner peace a lot faster than stubborn pride. I hope that this article has helped stress the importance of the virtue of humility in this so called life, and that you are able to incorporate this concept into your life as soon as possible. I say this because I am stubborn, and sometimes insist on learning the hard way. Don’t be like me, taking the low road leads to the high road in this case!

About the Author: Julie Phineas is a work at home mom of 2 who lives in Southern California. You can find out more about her and view her photos by visiting her page on MySpace.