Today, I begin a series on climbing the ladder of greatness in life. I will touch on important principles that can be best described as rungs on a ladder. Rungs are the bars or rods that form the steps of a ladder. Anyone who wants to climb a ladder cannot ignore the rungs. Whoever ignores the rungs gets things wrong.
What is humility? I know humility is a subjective issue to a large extent. Humility is defined as the quality or condition of being humble; modest opinion or estimate of one’s own importance, rank, etc. For me, humility is a state of mind that respects and appreciates others for who they are. It’s a disposition of lowliness that positions a person for distinctiveness. I see humility as an elevator. It raises you and places you on a pedestal. Saint Augustine puts it like this: Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility.
To be truly humble is to be truly great. The opposite of humility is pride. There is a tendency in everyone to exhibit pride. Do you find it difficult to greet the security guards at the gate? Do you normally wait for people to greet you first before you greet them? Do you always think you are right and everybody else is wrong? Do you maltreat the junior officers who work with? A lot of people move around ‘puffed up’ because of their position of authority, brilliance, rich pedigree, powerfully connections, beauty, e.t.c. If you fall into the class of these kinds of people, then you are far from being humble. Those who refuse to be humble soon experience a tumble. Even when you have reached the top, you need humility to keep remain there.
I remember when I newly joined the organization where I work. Walking into the office every morning, I noticed there is a set of people I greet and they would pretend as if they didn’t hear me or just keep their faces straight with an air of arrogance all around them. I began to wonder later why someone would think himself or herself so important that he feels others are lesser beings or less privileged.
This greeting-but-no-response continued until one great day. That day my father came with a group of top government functionaries to perform an oversight function on operations at my workplace. The atmosphere was tense and the top management staff took them around the various departments. It was during the course of the showing them around that my identity became revealed to some of my colleagues. They were shocked to realize that I was the son of a top government official and I had never showed off or brandished it. Guess what? A number of them changed their attitude towards me! In fact, one of my colleagues greets me with enthusiasm. They probably suddenly realized that they were not as important as they thought! I thought to myself that these people wouldn’t have changed, if they didn’t know who I was. It’s a pity that some people don’t realize the need to treat people very well whether they are rich or poor.
On your pathway to greatness, you need a heart of humility, not pride. You are born to be great. You truly deserve greatness. Humility is the bedrock of true greatness.
Cheers!
IDOWU OMISORE
Speaker. Author. Talent Coach. Youth Consultant.
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