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Humility is Power

Updated: Mar 12

Humility is power. Ambition and pride are traps set by the ego. The ego is not your amigo. The ego wants you dead. Truly. The flip side of pride and opposite end of the polarity is humility, usually defined in dictionaries as the absence of pride and the state of being humble. Lao Tzu wrote in the 'Tao Te Ching' that “All streams flow to the sea because it is lower than they are: Humility gives it its power. If you want to govern the people, you must place yourself below them. if you want to lead the people, you must learn how to follow them.”


Jesus was humble - he washed his Disciples feet. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi were humble. Such humble spiritual Masters have always wielded infinitely more power than those who were full of pride. Who will remember Donald Trump in 2000 years? Martin Luther King Jr.'s own example of humility and service during his life contributed immeasurably to the achieving of his dream.


Rick Pitino said that "Humility is the true key to success. Successful people lose their way at times. They often embrace and overindulge from the fruits of success. Humility halts this arrogance and self-indulging trap. Humble people share the credit and wealth, remaining focused and hungry to continue the journey of success." What to make of this paradox?


G.K. Chesterton wrote that "Humility is the mother of giants. One sees great things from the valley; only small things from the peak"


Those people who are full of pride are egomaniacs with an inferiority complex. They are full of fear. They create a facade to hide their fear. Fear is the language of the ego. Fear and Faith don’t live in the same house. I love the short story: Fear knocked on the door, Faith answered - there was no-one there. People who are full of pride need to take a spiritual journey if they truly want to succeed. Otherwise they will remain climbing 'Mount Stupid.' Stop chasing: Start attracting. By becoming nobody, you really become somebody. Seeking riches outside of you is a state of lack, and you simply attract more lack. It is entirely possible to have both financial and spiritual abundance. In fact, they go hand in hand. Billionaires need spirituality more than anyone.


The Grace of God for me is like being touched lightly by a feather - to be blessed by God for the works that I have done in his name. In Revelation 3:8 it states “Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have followed My word, and have not denied My name. For me, that is Grace.” Thomas Moore wrote "Humility, that low, sweet root, from which all heavenly virtues shoot." Harold Warner wrote that "Humility is the gateway into the Grace and the favour of God."


Ambition and pride are related to an addiction to external validation. Yet they create more enemies than allies. When you are stuck in ego, you are behind enemy lines. Henri Frederic Amiel wrote that "There is no respect for others without humility in one's Self."


Driven by fear, those with pride come from a place of lack, low self worth, childhood trauma, and conditioning by our parents and society that tell us that we are not good enough without achievements, accolades, degrees, riches, and a glowing CV. Those things controlled them. They keep them small when they think they are so big.


My therapist asked me who I was in my first meeting with them five years ago - I made reference to my accomplishments. He said again who are you without anything on your resume? I said "There is no me". He replied "There is a you, you just don’t know you yet." Who do you want to BE?


The journey from pride to humility is one of transformation and spiritual growth: It's the path from striving to thriving.


If you have compulsions such as always wanting more, and most people do, you are a hungry ghost. You can’t deal with big problems. Personal growth kills the ego. The ego kills personal growth.


Mahatma Gandhi said that “Anger is the enemy of non-violence and pride is a monster that swallows it up.” He added “It is no great thing to be humble when you are brought low; but to be humble when you are praised is a great and rare attainment.”


Pride turns deeply pathological when it crosses the line into hubris. Hubris is excessive pride that becomes blinding, often leading to one's catastrophic downfall. The ego is a liar. It tells you that hubris gets you places. Pride, and hubris, come before a fall. Pride limits and imprisons your Real Personal Power. Humility unlocks it. Would you like to choose triumph over tears?


Hubris, from Ancient Greek (húbris) 'pride, insolence, outrage', or less frequently hybris, describes a personality quality of extreme or excessive pride or dangerous overconfidence and complacency, often in combination with (or synonymous with) arrogance. The complacency limits your Real Personal Power. Hubris often indicates a loss of contact with reality and an overestimation of one's own competence, accomplishments, or capabilities. in religious usage it meant emulation of divinity or transgression against a God. In the Septuagint, "Hubris is overweening pride, superciliousness, or arrogance, often resulting in fatal retribution or a nemesis". The word hubris as used in the New Testament parallels the Hebrew word 'pesha', meaning ‘transgression’. It represents a pride that "Makes a man defy God", sometimes to the degree that he considers himself an equal. In its modern usage, hubris denotes overconfident pride combined with arrogance. Hubris is also referred to as "Pride that blinds" because it often causes a committer of hubris to act in foolish ways that belie common sense. Pride is a very dangerous disease that can turn your talent, assets, and achievements into a handicap. Destroy your pride before your pride destroys you. 


Confucius said that “Humility is the solid foundation of all virtues." 


Rabindranath Tagore wrote that “We come nearest to the great when we are great in humility.”


True humility is intelligent self respect which keeps us from thinking too highly or too meanly of ourselves. It makes you 'right-sized'.It makes us modest by reminding us how far we have come short of what we can truly BE. This gives us a calling to our Highest Self. It is the foundation of BEing. James M. Barrie said that "Life is a long lesson in humility." Rick Warren famously wrote that "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less."


Consider this, Not all angels have wings, They are around us, Think of the people who saved you and guided you to where you are now. Saint Augustine wrote “It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.”


Oscar Levant wrote that "What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left."


Humility is linked to gratitude. James E. Faust wrote that "A grateful heart is a beginning of greatness. It is an expression of humility. It is a foundation for the development of such virtues as prayer, Faith, courage, contentment, happiness, love, and well-being."


In the 'Big Book' of the 12 steps it states "I would enter upon a new relationship with my Creator; that I would have the elements of a way of living which answered all my problems. Belief in the power of God, plus enough willingness, honesty and humility to establish and maintain the new order of things, were the essential requirements... I find joy in my daily life, in BEing of service, in simply BEing. I have found rooms full of wonderful people, and for me each and every one of the Big Book’s promises have come true. The things that I have learned from my own experience, from the Big Book, and from my friends—patience, acceptance, honesty, humility, and true Faith in a Power greater than myself—are the tools I use today to live my life, this precious life... Humility, as a word and as an ideal, has a very bad time of it in our world. The Seventh Step is where we make the change in our attitude which permits us, with humility as our guide, to move out from ourselves toward others and toward God... Humility is the key." Spirituality means that you can handle situations that you could not handle before.


Pride versus humility


Thomas Merton wrote that "Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real." Pride makes you wear a mask as you are too afraid that your false self is imperfect and will be found out.


'Thank you' is the best prayer that anyone could say. I say that one a lot. Thank you expresses extreme gratitude, humility, and understanding. With pride, there are many curses. With humility, there come many blessings and successes. Do you want a grievance or a miracle?


Swami Sivananda wrote that "Humility is not cowardice. Meekness is not weakness. Humility and meekness are indeed spiritual powers." Rudolf Steiner wrote that "Only a person who has passed through the gate of humility can ascend to the heights of the spirit."


Jesus said in Matthew 18:1-4 "When His disciples asked Him, 'Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?' He called a little child and had him stand among them. Then he said to them, 'I can guarantee this truth: Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.'" In Matthew 23:11-2 Jesus said “The person who is greatest among you will be your servant. Whoever honours himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be honoured.” Humility is power. We can make a humble God out of you. Are you Self-centred?


Namaste.


Sending you love, light, and blessings brothers.


Olly



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Hello,

I am delighted and enchanted to meet you. I coach men with 'Deep Coaching', 'Supercoaching', and Transformative Life Coaching (TLC). Thank you for reading this far. I very much look forward to connecting with the highest version of you, to seeing your highest possibility, and to our conversations. Please do contact me via my email for a free connection call and a free experience of coaching on Zoom or in person. 


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