Humility

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time you know I love Richard Carlson's writings, especially his book, " Don't Sweat The Small Stuff. . .and its all small stuff ". Personally I think this book should be some sort of mandatory reading for mankind : )

This book is always next to my computer. I pick this book up often when here at my desk and just randomly pick a spot to start reading. It has short chapters so random reading works. No doubt I have read the entire book a dozen times or more. There have been so many Ahhh haaaa moments for me with this book.

This mornings read...nothing less than profound.

"Humility and inner peace go hand in hand. The less compelled you are to try and prove yourself to others, the easier it is to feel peace inside.

Proving yourself is a dangerous trap. It takes enormous amounts of energy to be continually pointing out your accomplishments, bragging, or trying to convince others of your worth as a human being. Bragging actually dilutes the positive feelings you receive from an accomplishment or something you are proud of. To make matters worse, the more you try to prove yourself, the more others will avoid you, talk behind your back about your insecure need to brag, and perhaps even resent you.

Ironically, however, the less you care about seeking approval, the more approval you seem to get. People are drawn to those with a quiet inner confidence, people who don't need to make themselves look good, be "right" all the time, or steal the glory. Most people love a person who doesn't need to brag, a person who shares from their heart and not from his or her ego."

First reading this I thought of two people I know, one that is always trying to be better than someone else. One upping them all the time. Its almost funny since the other person feels no competition at all with them. So its a totally in vain game for the competitor. The second person is someone that is a non stop talker and the subject is always about him. Everyone knows that he brags because he doesn't really feel good about himself, but its so burdensome to be in his company. Most everyone talks about him as being the performer with an audience of one, himself ! He thinks he is impressing folks but he really is depressing them.

Then I thought about myself and my own dealing in life with bragging and having to be the best. Age has taught me. I have grown more secure in myself, leaving less need to brag or over achieve. Over achievers are braggers, they can be silent or get the payoff just by showing off what they have accomplished. Its funny how we react to things we read. First we think of all the folks it applies to, mostly the folks we don't really like, then we put it on as some sort of self righteous "I knew I was right about them" mantle. Often times though, there might be a thread of truth in what we read for ourselves. Humility and blogging do not always walk lovingly, hand in hand.
Its a good place to show off what we do, how our homes look, how "right" we are about a way of life, a philosophy, a dogma. Ouch !

Photo: The most humble person I know,

How's it feel being 62 Emery : )