Whenever I ask my HP to help me understand something, in this case humility, I am usually overwhelmed with opportunities to practice that for which I have just asked.  I wish the request would just drop down from above and wrap me in a beautiful (but simple….because I am humble) blanket of a soft, downy demeanor that would be admired by all as “being humble.”  But alas, my HP does not work that way.  Whenever I request a trait that I would like to have, I am always rewarded with many, many situations in which I have the opportunity to practice using the gift I have just requested.  Damn!  I hate it when that happens!!!

To me, humility is an inside job.  Don’t get me wrong.  It shows on the outside, but it’s in the heart, the center of the soul, where it really lives.  It’s designed not to need much room or attention… just a place to rest for a while every now and then when other character traits start to crowd the spiritual space that we all try to keep clean, pure and simple.  I can look like the poster child for humility when I want to - and I often use this ploy so people will like me., feel sorry for me….whatever.  You probably do, too. But when it’s just me and HP and we’re sittin’ around talkin, I know that I have often used the guise of being humble for my own self-serving purposes.  As I said, it’s an inside job, and because of that, no one sees what goes on in those quiet corners of the heart, at least no human being, that is.

The exterior qualities associated with  humility are many  - compassion, empathy, sympathy, altruism, care-giving, kindness, to name a few.  But what appears  on the outside may have little or  nothing to do with what is happening on the inside.  I looked up the definition of “humility” and found such entries as “modesty, docility, unobtrusive, subjection…”  None of  the synonyms I found resonated with my own feelings about this six-letter noun.  For me, humility is the ability to know who you are (and I mean who you really are), to accept it, and even be thankful for it, and to work with what you got.  It’s not some grandiose subjugation to the actions, words or personalities of others, nor is it a boastful arrogance disguised in sackcloth and hidden among the debris and messiness of life. It is the messiness of life…the sad, glad, sometimes lonely, often wonderful, but always present day to day acceptance of this time and this place, just as it is, just where it is and just how it is.

Next time I think I’ll ask HP for a new skirt -

Till Next Time -

Your Humble Road Warrior