The true practice of humility

Monday Meditation

In order to be humble about your imperfections, first you need to receive your own perfection.

There’s a lot of talk about humility, and most of it is a distortion of the profound spiritual meaning of this virtue.

• There’s the distortion that confuses humility with poverty, as in “she comes from humble origins.”
  
  
• There’s the distortion that confuses humility with self-effacement, as in “she was the genius behind the event, but she’s so humble that she doesn’t take the credit.”
  
  
• There’s the distortion that confuses humility with selflessness, as in “with her talent, she could be famous, but she’s humble and has dedicated herself to being a good wife.”

To my shaman’s eyes, none of these are virtues and all are distortions of humility.

• To hide your talents and deprive the world of your gifts is not humility or a virtue. It is the betrayal of your purpose. It is the betrayal of the gifts you were given to serve this world.
  
  
• To play small, deny your value and avoid credit, recognition or compensation is not humility. Quite the contrary; it is the result of not valuing the gifts Spirit has given you enough to honor them in the world.
  
  
• Finally, to be poor does not make you humble, although perhaps it may pressure you into humiliating yourself to keep a job.

So what then, is humility?

“Humility is the profound experience of the extraordinary value of your unique gifts and beautiful Essence framed within your vulnerable humanity.”

When women do not value their gifts, they feel inadequate and may hide from scrutiny. This makes them defensive and leads to resentment, fear and passive-aggressive competition as they compared themselves to others, feel inadequate and then strike to bring those others down.

Only when you have recognized how perfect you are for your purpose, how blessed you are with your gifts, talents, skills and experiences and how unique and precious your Essence is —can you be confident and generous enough to practice true humility.

• Because you are strong, you do not fear to accept your weakness or ask for help.
  
  
• Because you feel valuable, you do not shy away from acknowledging other’s value.
  
  
• Because you are spiritually perfect, you lose nothing by embracing your human imperfections.

That is, in my shaman’s eyes, the true practice of humility.

I call this Peacock Humility.

In recognizing your value, you spread your gifts in the world within the vulnerable human understanding that you are here to learn, that you need support and that the Divine shows up in your life in many guises; therefore you honor, respect and receive grace from others, small and big.

The false humility I call Humbug Humility.

Turn it on its belly, and it will bite you.

Resources

If you want spiritual, emotional and ceremonial help to apply this knowledge to your life, feel free to engage my Shamanic Guidance.

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