Sometimes, You Suck
The Timeless Principle of Humility
This is one in a series of essays that was originally conceived as a book for print publication. If you enjoy it and would like to read more from the collection, you can find a sort of Table of Contents here.
Humility is a tough one.
On one hand, we all need to maintain a respectable level of self-esteem. It’s healthy and serves as a protection in many respects. I would never advocate otherwise.
As a matter of fact, I think it’s a great thing to be able to “blow your own horn” to some extent, especially from a marketing perspective. God knows I do enough of it!
But there’s another side of the coin too: pride, arrogance and a self-righteous attitude can destroy a person’s relationships with friends and family and can leave them miserable and alone.
It’s that serious.
So how does one cultivate a healthy level of self-esteem while maintaining their relationships?
Enter the timeless principle of humility.
Although they are two separate terms, each with their own nuances, for this chapter I’m going to call humility and modesty synonymous. For clarity’s sake, here are the official definitions, because I know sticklers are likely to try to point out that…
