Humble means to show a modest estimate of one’s importance, meaning to not be humble is to think you are more important than everyone else. It doesn’t mean you can’t love yourself and think you are awesome; it just means you don’t automatically think you are much better than everyone else for no particular reason at all. Essentially: being humble is a good thing. But finding a balance between being humble and still knowing your own self-worth is really important.
Therefore, while the famous rapper Kendrick Lamar will tell you to “Sit down, be humble”, I would argue you should Stand Up AND Be Humble.
What I am trying to say is that it is important you recognise that you can be humble and love yourself at the same time. If you know you are awesome at something, it is okay to recognise that you are. Even more, it’s okay to share this talent with your friends, family and peers. While it is all very well to be modest, this doesn’t mean you have to belittle yourself and your talents. You don’t need to talk yourself down to build others up.
If your friend is upset because they feel like that aren’t that great at something you know you are good at, you don’t need to start saying that you’re actually no good at it either. You can build them up by helping them see they aren’t actually that bad at it after all, or by talking about their skills in other areas. Move the focus onto them and make it positive!
To be humble is to not be boastful or arrogant and to not put yourself at a higher position than anyone else. In most situations being humble is the right thing to do. But this only works if we recognise what being humble really means. It means to be considerate and thoughtful. It doesn’t mean to be harsh on yourself all the time!
If you begin to lose sight of your self-esteem and your self-worth you won’t even have the opportunity to be humble or to be arrogant, as you won’t see the positive and awesome side of yourself! Your potential to achieve what you most desire is directly related to your self-esteem. On the other hand, failure is much more likely when you suffer from low self-esteem because you will believe others when they tell you why you cannot succeed. The importance of self-esteem cannot be underestimated. It affects your behaviour and thoughts. It changes how you feel about and value yourself. It affects your confidence, and that can affect your success and thinking in a big way. Can you imagine anything else so important?
Look I’m not denying the genius of Kendrick Lamar. But maybe even he was wrong on this one. In situations related to valuing ourselves, we don’t need to sit down to be humble. We can be stand up, be proud, be confident… AND be humble at the same time.
Critical Questions:
1. Why do you think being humble is important? Why is self-worth important?
2. What do you think is more important out of the two and why? Can we balance both?
3. Does showing arrogance as opposed to humility change the way people treat us. Does having self-worth change the way people see us?
Practical Thinking Questions:
1. How are five ways you can show either humility, self-worth or both in your everyday life?
2. Ask your parents if they raised you to have humility, self-worth or both. Ask your classmates if they think these traits are important to the way they interact with friends. Discuss it with them if you think you need to.
3. Do successful people in history show these traits? Does it help them? Why/why not?
I think so