I have been thinking lately that humility is such an important character trait to have.
Now I am not exactly sure how to define humility. I know it is the opposite of being proud and I am fairly sure I know when I have taken the humble option as opposed to the proud one. I am also fairly confident I can recognise humility in the lives of people I interact with. I know it has to do with being other-people-conscious rather than being self absorbed. Humble people do not call attention to themselves and tend not to talk too much about their latest exploits. Humble people tend not to argue, don't need to be right all the time or have the last say or get their own way and usually take the smallest piece of cake. They also listen to instructions to the end of the sentence, are open to new ideas or someone else's way of doing things, are happy to do as they are asked and give way to traffic who failed to give way to them.
"I told you that" or "I told you so" are two phrases you probably will not hear out of the mouth of a humble person.
If one stops and think about humility, one could well discover it is a necessary attribute to many of the activities we involve ourselves in. It could determine whether we succeed at these activities or not. For example if I am going to be a good friend I need to be a good listener. To be a good listener takes humility. It is impossible to listen well without humility. It takes humility to keep your mouth shut while someone shares with you. It takes humility not to butt in with your side of the story or another similar story or a solution to a problem that might be shared.
If one works in a place where one needs to interact with people, one needs to be humble. Humility is an important characteristic for sales people no matter what they are selling. It takes humility to find out what a customer wants and then find a way to meet their need. For example I like my coffee very hot and I always ask for very hot coffee because I have learned from experience that not everyone makes coffee as hot as I like it. It amazes me when I make that request to a sales person and they say 'we make all our coffee hot". It especially amazes me when the coffee they make is not very hot even though I requested it.
But the thing that most cheeses me off about being given a not-so-very-hot coffee is the dilemma I am now in as a person who is trying to practice humility. Somehow I have to figure out what the humble option is in this situation. Is it drinking the coffee anyway or do I respectfully ask them to heat up the coffee in the microwave for 30 seconds? Life is fraught with challenges for the proud person who is trying to be humble.
And proud people is what I suspect, we human beings basically are. I think we have a default programme that inclines us to be proud. As we grow up, being proud becomes entrenched in our behaving. If we choose to override the programme and be humble, it takes training before we become practised in the art of humility. And even then if we are not watchful the default setting boots back in with a toss of its head and a prideful snort.
