Sense of Humility

Yesterday I did a homework with my Eco-psychology study about senses of people as below:

#40 Sense of humility, appreciation, ethics.
Ethics refers to principles that define behavior as right, good and proper. Such principles do not always dictate a single "moral" course of action, but provide a means of evaluating and deciding among competing options.

[1] The terms "ethics" and "values" are not interchangeable. Ethics is concerned with how a moral person should behave, whereas values are the inner judgments that determine how a person actually behaves. Values concern ethics when they pertain to beliefs about what is right and wrong. Most values, however, have nothing to do with ethics. For instance, the desire for health and wealth are values, but not ethical values.

There is nothing wrong with having strong personal and professional moral convictions about right and wrong, but unfortunately, some people are "moral imperialists" who seek to impose their personal moral judgments on others. The universal ethical value of respect for others dictates honoring the dignity and autonomy of each person and cautions against self-righteousness in areas of legitimate controversy. Respect comes from the sense of humility. [2] Humility instead refers to an awareness of one’s limits. In theology, it refers to a sense of “smallness” in relation to the greatness, encouraging receptiveness and solidarity with all people, especially the poor, “lowly” and “sinners”.

Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson [3] explained the definition of humility that it is not, as is popularly conceived, a sense of meekness and low self-image in which a person has no sense of his own worth. Instead, a true sense of humility is complemented by self-assurance. The person radiates confidence and self-esteem, but has no trace of arrogance or boastful pride. He knows his personal virtues, exercises them productively, and yet this does not lead to egotism or haughtiness.

A person appreciates that he should be humble. There is, however, a deeper approach to humility, one that is not dependent on logical conclusions, but which comes from an inner sense of selflessness.

[4] Sense of appreciation is said to be something that can help us have a happier life. How do we get that sense? Is it something that is inherent or is it something that some people do not have in them? I tend to think that sense of appreciation is inherent in all of us but it is not like a mental faucet that we can turn on at will. This thing actually needs some conscious actions in order to be more apparent in our everyday life.

Sometimes, we tend to think that we are not appreciated as much as we want to. It could be a boss who tends to forget saying thank you or a friend who just keeps on taking and not thinking of giving us something in return. We can say that such is the case these days, and that people are so preoccupied with their own thing so we might as well just find coping ways like being equally cold and unappreciative. That will do, but there is a better alternative.

We can start by cultivating our own sense of appreciation by two basic steps:

- First there should be a conscious action on our part to start or share the spirit of gratefulness. Volunteering is one thing we can do. How can I say this? I can because I did use some years of my life doing volunteering work and it certainly increased my sense of appreciation. I also observe from our volunteers that they have a keen sense of this. How can they not have this when they are surrounded by children or groups of elderly who have gleaming eyes of appreciation because they spent time with them?

- Second, we let our attitude be influenced by the action and its effect on us. You will observe that these two basic steps will influence the way we see things in our everyday life. You might find that there are more people appreciative of you and you would wonder whether they changed, or more likely, you changed.

Again, Ethics is about putting principles into action. [1] Consistency between what we say we value and what our actions say we value is a matter of integrity.

Wayne Dyer (Sep 2006) wrote about Humility as:
[5] The active side of infinity fosters a sense of humility. When humility enters your soul, you know that you're not alone in this world, because you sense the heart of the power of intention, which is in each and everyone of us. To quote the Talmud, "Even if you be otherwise perfect, you fail without humility."

When you embrace the active side of infinity, you're looking at something so enormous that your little ego is dwarfed in the process. You're looking out at forever, and your little life is but a tiny parenthesis in eternity.One of the reasons for so much contemporary depression and ennui is the inability to see ourselves connected to something greater and more important than our own puny egos. Young people whose primary focus is on their possessions, their appearance, their reputations with their peers---in short, their own egos---have very little sense of humility. When the only thing you have to think about is yourself and how you appear to others, you've distanced yourself from the power of intention. If you want to feel connected to your own purpose, know this for certain: Your purpose will only be found in service to others, and in being connected to something far greater than your body/mind/ego.

I hope you enjoy reading and knowing more about my study. Well, how does Jesus look at "Humility"?

How can you serve with your whole heart today?

Ephesians 6:7-8
Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.

I come to recognize that connecting us with the Greatness (God) reflects the consciousness and awareness of our smallness and humility to serve wholeheartedly. Those who are hesitate to serve may due to their dis-connected or insufficient connection in this aspect. Thus, does "Knowing God, Understanding of God and Fear God is the beginning of Wisdom and Knowledge" make sense to you?

Well, again we have to go back to the Bible (Words of God) and our relationship with God. QT is the simple daily tool.

Amen!