Being Humble
If there was some kind of Premier League version of top strengths that a person could have, I wonder what the top four would be – the ones that would always be there, year after year after year?
Would it be Confidence, Commitment, Resilience? Would it be Power? What order would they be in? And would anyone ever consider putting being Humble in those top 4 positions?
It seems a bit strange to talk about being humble as a strength. There’s a commonly held belief that humble people are weak people or at least some kind of a pushover. So it is true that being humble is rarely described as a strength.
But what if it actually is? What if being humble enables and facilitates so many other good and healthy things to be part of our character and our lives?
The word ‘humble’ comes from the Latin word for ‘grounded’. Grounded. Steady. Rooted. Having your feet firmly on the ground. Holding a good perspective. You could say that being humble means that we know what we are good at and what we need to work on.
Which means we are willing to learn. Which means we know the need to listen to the wisdom and insight of others.
Which means that we are discovering how to be a better friend, a better partner, a better parent, a better son or daughter, aunt or uncle and better in our work.
Which means we are on the path of becoming the very best version of ourselves. All because we are practising being humble.
So yes. It absolutely is the case that being humble is a strength. Never a weakness. Always a strength.