HUMILITY MONTH: DAY 28: “I have three precious things which I hold fast and prize. The first is gentleness; the second is frugality; the third is humility, which keeps me from putting myself before others. Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be liberal; avoid putting yourself before others and you can become a leader among men.” ― Lao Tzu
I would love to tout my gentleness. I am seldom gentle. I must work to be gentle, even with myself. I believe myself to be forthright, but not gentle. Perhaps this is the nature of who I am. I accept this about myself. I learned to sit with gentleness in my husband, who had this quality in great measure. His voice was gentle, his heart was gentle. I respected that in him a great deal.
When I was with him, I felt like I had been gentled. I did not need to be quite as forthright as I am without him. I am not sure why this is. I tend to believe it is because of the harsh life I led for so many years. This may or may not be true, because my husband’s life was just as harsh, if not more so.
However, in this step, I must strive to contemplate my character defects and my character assets with an open mind, not sit in judgment.
Therefore, I am not sure this quote is speaking about ME. However, I do hold gentleness as being precious. I certainly love to see that in others and can see it when I practice it in my own life.
Frugality is my way of living within the means I have available to me. It is not by design that I am a frugal person, although I was when I was young. I spend what I have. Not much of a saver, I have lost all sense of “rainy days” and understand that I can work to balance this aspect of my life more than I do at this time.
The one area where I know I am liberal is that I insist on eating very well. Not in restaurants (almost never!) but in my home. I buy good, organic foods and supplements and am very careful with my spending, but not cheap. I eat in healthy ways to support my body and my energy.
Humility is not my best aspect, either. I am humbler today than I have been in the past; but there is always progress to be made.
I am able to put others ahead of me, their desires and wants, their needs or concerns. I can also let go of being “right” more often than I used to be able to do. This is a great area of humility for me. I have practiced the idea of “I’d rather be happy than right” for many years. It is finally beginning to creep into my consciousness.
However, what is really funny is how little I desire to become a leader among men (or women!) That does not appeal to me in any way. Why? Because the responsibility for maintaining leadership is something I do not want to carry on my shoulders or in my heart.
I am happy to just be me, doing what I do and living the way I live. Today I am content with all that IS, and that, for me…is pretty good stuff!
Dolphin Hug 