Humility in Action

I have talked about being humble in my post on conduct. You will see me bring it up again and again over time. Why? Because it is an incredible attribute to foster in yourself. And you DO have to foster it. By nature we are self-serving. We look for "what's in it for me?" We think about how "we" look. We think about what we can do, what we have, what we can get. When we accomplish something we think about what we have done. It is simply natural for us to think this way.



What the truth is though is quite a different story. Yes, we might be the benefactors of our successes. We certainly wear our physical attributes and express our intellectual attributes. We can hone them and refine them and improve them, and we should. We are stewards of all of our blessings. AND here is the point. They are blessings. God has gifted us in all the ways we know of and in some ways we have probably not discovered yet.



As you succeed in your business it is important to remember how blessed you are. It is not by luck that you will succeed. The process is simple, and you have been blessed with the ability to do it, and with your own unique set of attributes that help you along. The more you give away the credit for your success, the more attractive you will become in the community around you. Give the glory to God for your gifts and circumstrances. Give the credit to your organization as it grows.



Last night we had dinner at some old friend's house. My friend has done very well for himself in life. Him and I spent several hours in conversation after dinner. His humility humbled me. He is so outwardly grateful for his success in life and takes no credit for anything more than working hard with what God has blessed him with. I have incredible admiration for him. Not for his accomplishments...they are simply accomplishments...they do not define a person. I have met many people in my life that are considered successful (I say "considered" because much of the world tends to have a material view of success...based on titles, or winning, or money, when in fact these are too shallow to ever be in the equation of whether or not a person is truly a success), many of those people are so full of themselves I wouldn't spend five minutes with them on purpose...but this man I could talk to all day, because his humility is genuine.



He, without knowing it, was holding a mirror up for me. Making me look at myself and see my weaknesses in this area. I know that I have natural humility to an extent, but I also have an ego that can get in my way. The way to control this ego and be the humble servant and steward of our gifts that will allow us to help so many? Wake up everyday and thank God for our blessings. Know that every opportunity we have is by grace. Recognize that while we have free will and many gifts, all we can control is our actions and our attitude. The rest is not in our hands. We do our best everyday and God does the rest. BUT we have to do our best everyday with what we've been given. Work the process with humility everyday, improve yourself everyday, and let God do the rest:-)