HAPPINESS HELP » Humility

Practice Makes Progress

Alan A — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 06:22:00 +0000

I write this in the midst of being humbled yet again as a result of my own behaviors. The spiritual principles that I write about on this site may describe perfect ideals and I do practice everything that I write, but as I was reminded of tonight, I still have a lot of work to do as my spirituality and actions fall quite short of the perfect ideals of which I write.

As we continue on our spiritual and psychological journeys, although we may strive for perfect ideals, we must remember that we are not perfect and will most likely never be perfect. This does not mean that we cannot strive for the perfect ideals of spiritual principles, however, so as not to be discouraged, we must remember that practice makes progress, not perfection.

Do You Ever Feel Small?

Alan A — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 08:20:00 +0000

Have you ever gone outside at night and looked up at the moon and stars and realized just how small you really are? It’s almost a feeling of insignificance but it’s not related to low self-esteem. This realization, this feeling of being small, immediately diminishes our self-importance leaving us with a feeling of peace. The vastness of the dark sky illuminated by the moon and filled with millions of stars affords of the blessing of realizing just how small our problems really are.

We have the opportunity in this life to make a difference in the lives of others and to leave this world a better place. There are very few of us though who will be remembered through history for his or her contributions to this world. So, does this make such people more important or less small than us? In a way perhaps, but even these people that go down in history for their significant contributions or harm, are still just extremely small parts of the whole. The vastness of it All can help even these people to realize just how small there problems really are too.

Our problems stem from an overwhelming sense of self so anything we can do to diminish this self will prove to be beneficial to our spiritual, mental and emotional conditions. In the scenario in the opening paragraph, I describe peace as being the result of realizing just how small we really are. We experience all types of trials and tribulations and pain and suffering in this life as a result of being attached to this self. We get upset when we don’t get our way whether we lose something that we posses or we do not get something that we want. This we, or more importantly I in the first person, is the cause of our pain and suffering. I want this or I want that, I don’t like this or I don’t like that. I don’t feel good, I am sad or I am angry, I am hungry, I am tired, I don’t like my job, I don’t like my spouse, I want a new car, I want more money… I, I, I.

What if there was no I? Who then would experience the unpleasantness, the pain and the suffering of this life? Think about it…

Can you understand why the less importance we put on our self, the happier we become? Most if not all of the posts on this site can help you to reduce your sense of self. I will continue to write about self and ways in which we can learn to let go of it. Go outside alone on the next clear night and look up at the moon and stars for a while. Don’t rush back inside, take it all in, relax and breathe.

How Can We Not Be Humble?

Alan A — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 08:36:00 +0000

The more we learn about ourselves the more aware we become of our shortcomings and therefore, the more humble we become. Our arrogance and pride will again reveal themselves until the awareness of our faults hits us head on yet again, sending us back to the reality of our imperfectness while serving us up some humble pie.

The more we realize just how many faults we possess, the more difficult it is to be arrogant. How can anyone in there right mind not be humble? Right is the key word here. So many people go through this life completely unaware of most of their shortcomings and therefore do not change or improve much. Lack of awareness or ignorance is a common block to change. How can we fix something if we don’t know it’s broken? This self-awareness, to which I refer, is very powerful as it is the first step to change and improvement and allows us to be humble at heart.

Awareness creates humility and humility creates an open mind. When we are truly humbled by our own thoughts and actions, we become open to other ways as we realize that our ways are flawed and are causing us to repeat the same living patterns, over and over again. Unless we change our thoughts and behaviors, we will continue our faulty, unhealthy patterns which impact our happiness and peace. Let us not forgot how our behaviors and actions affect every other living being of which we are in contact.

So, it appears that we all need to be aware of ourselves. We get this awareness gradually by practicing the principles set forth on this site as well as through other spiritual and psychological practices. Just by reading articles such as this, you will begin to develop awareness. Just as the alcoholic whose drinking is forever ruined because of the seed planted at one AA meeting that he/she might have a drinking problem, so it is with our minds as we absorb new, useful information, gradually diminishing our ignorance. May you be happy and at peace.