Being humble

CEBU, Philippines - It is not good to be overly confident about yourself and to feel sad if you are not being the best one of all. While you may strive to be the best you can be, you should bear in mind that you may not be the best there is. It should be enough to give your all, but it is not within your power to decide on the outcome of your efforts.

Most of the truly successful people do not strive to stand higher than the others. They simply do their best. And they don’t worry when their efforts don’t make them stars in their fields. They just enjoy giving their best to the tasks at hand.

For example, one athlete scores a touchdown, drops the ball and goes down on his knees to give thanks for his achievement. Another player scores too but then runs around the field pointing at himself and calling attention to his achievement. One of these people is being humble and grateful, while the other is being arrogant and boastful.

Humility is about being modest, respectful and putting others before oneself.  It is not calling attention to oneself or being rude because he thinks he is better than the rest.  Humility is being thankful. It is also about good sportsmanship, one is thankful enough for simply being able to get the chance to play the game.

But humility is not just for the ball field. It is something to apply in every aspect of one’s life.  It calls for being courteous and saying “please” and “thank you” all the time, not only when one is in a good mood. It is about being willing to apologize to others even if one is just slightly in the wrong.  It is also about listening and being open to learning from others.

Being humble is recognizing that everyone has different strengths. For a young person, humility is one of the most important things to develop.  Being humble makes a child grow to be a better person, a better student and a better teammate. (www.inspiremykids.com)