Ego desires recognition and control, interferes with performance and learning, likes to impress and boast, and gets upset and defensive. Ego gets in the way of your success, relationships, and personal growth.
Did you realize that your most important ally is also always with you? Who? Humility!
Humility puts others first without putting itself down. Humility values the self as well as others. It understands that no one is better than another.”
In addition, Ego always misses opportunities because it disregards the little details (the small prints). And it is susceptible to attacks because it needlessly exposes its weaknesses while boasting about its strengths.
Meanwhile, Humility can avoid threats because it hides its strengths and weaknesses. Equally, Humility can grab opportunities because opportunities are found in unlikely places.
The Reward Of Humility:
A Kenyan man narrated on his Facebook page how he secured an engineering contract from a European company operating in Kenya.
He said that while driving to work during rush hours, he usually picks up and drops off some security guards along their workplaces.
A particular security guard became his regular ‘passenger’, One day, the security guard asked him. You are not like the other rich men who don’t stop to help us. Why are you different?
The man replied I don’t see any difference between you and me. It doesn’t matter where you work or what you do. We are all trying to provide for our families.
Several months later, the man received a telephone call from a white man telling him that he would like his company to execute a project for his company. They met and signed the contract.
Out of curiosity, the man inquired from the white man how he got his contact. The white man told him that his security guard recommended him. Interestingly, the white man’s security guard was the same security guard he picks every morning to work.
While doing the favor to the security guard, the man could not have imagined that he would one day benefit from the security guard. Humility is about selflessness. Its reward is found in unlikely places.
And the reward for self-sacrifice is what Jesus said in Matthew 5:7 …the merciful shall obtain mercy. Since a humble man is already on the ground, he cannot fall any further. He can only rise, yes, like a Phoenix.
Moreover, Buckminster Fuller said, “Ninety-nine percent of who you are is invincible and untouchable.” Ego, eventually, becomes vincible and touchable because it inadvertently shows off its weaknesses while boasting about its strengths.
Conversely, Humility stoops to conquer. “A man is never as big as when he is on his knees to help a child” according to Pythagoras.
Like a goalkeeper is trained to appear bigger than the goalpost, train yourself to appear larger than life through humility.
Most of all, Humility is not a sign of weakness like most people think, but a weapon of mass destruction if you can apply it.
Overall, it is difficult to be humble and remain humble, however, “embrace humility as best as you can, and keep your ego in check.”
~ liberate your mind