[bctt tweet=”Practice radical humility. Take no credit for your talents, intellectual abilities, aptitudes… ~ Wayne Dyer ” username=”AndreaPatten”]<\/p>\n

Searching for others\u2019 thoughts on humility led me to a pair of popular writers whose work embraced a combination of creativity, spirituality, and helpfulness. \u00a0Thinking about them together makes me smile as I $\"\"$ picture them having a cup of coffee together. I wonder if they\u2019d enjoy the other\u2019s company \u2014 and what the conversation would be.<\/p>\n

My first Maya Angelou quotation places me (or \u201cus\u201d if you choose to join me) in a continuum. It places us in time, honoring those who came before and those who will follow. \u201cWhat humility does for one is it reminds us that there are people before me. I have already been paid for. And what I need to do is prepare myself so that I can pay for someone else who has yet to come but who may be here and needs me.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, as is true with almost anything I\u2019ve ever read by her, she points us to honesty. \u201cWhenever I’m around some who is modest, I think, ‘Run like hell and all of fire.’ You don’t want modesty, you want humility.\u201d<\/p>\n

I finally arrived at a favorite thought from Wayne Dyer. His advice? \u201cPractice radical humility. Take no credit for your talents, intellectual abilities, aptitudes, or proficiencies. Be in a state of awe and bewilderment.\u201d<\/p>\n

So What?<\/h3>\n
[bctt tweet=”How can I incorporate humility into my day-to-day life? Here are five simple ideas, a list that could be titled \u201cDon\u2019t Be a Jerk.\u201d” username=”AndreaPatten”]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
So what can I do with this? How can I incorporate humility into my day-to-day life? Here are five simple ideas, a $\"\"$ list that could, perhaps, be titled \u201cFive Simple Ways to be a Better Person\u201d or \u201cDon\u2019t Be Such a Jerk.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Turn off your cell phone. I like instant access as much as the next person but liberal use of your smart phone\u2019s Do Not Disturb function allows us to be fully present to the meal we are eating and the people with whom we share it. (Pro tip: I didn\u2019t know how, so I asked the artificial intelligence to do it for me!)<\/li>\n
Vacuum behind the furniture. I\u2019m far (way too far) from being a neat freak but this one speaks to our place in time and doing our work completely whether or not anyone else will see it.<\/li>\n
Supermarket behavior. Some venues are better practice than others and for me this is it. When I can let someone go ahead of me in line or return their empty cart, my behavior says their time (and their car doors) matter as much as mine.<\/li>\n
Passing along a favorite book may say \u201cI thought of you while I read this.\u201d (Or, in the case of self-help? \u201cI got a lot out of this, would you like it next?\u201d)<\/li>\n
Saying \u201cplease\u201d and \u201cthank you\u201d \u2014 frequently and in many formats. A text. A hand written note. A small gift. The more I practice this the more ideas come my way.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Please share your thoughts on humility and self-improvement in the comments. Thank you.<\/p>\n
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\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Humility shows itself in the people with whom I am connected \u2014 both online and in real life. I love the conversations about becoming better \u00a0at who we are and what we do. Lately they have been about the balance between a commitment to continuous self-improvement and acceptance: of self, of others, and of life as it is. So how does one balance a desire to improve with gratitude for the way things are? I don\u2019t know about you, but I struggle. And I seek greater humility. I struggle not to compare myself and my accomplishments to those around me, striving always to applaud and appreciate others\u2019 successes. Recognizing that we may have different strengths, interests, opportunities, privilege, resources, life circumstances, or abilities helps steer away from jealousy. The struggle is sometimes to recognize my own accomplishments \u2014 I\u2019m not denigrating them, I just don\u2019t always remember them when I should. \u201cHumility is truth.\u201d ~\u00a0Desiderius Erasmus [bctt tweet=”Humility is truth. ~ Desiderius Erasmus” username=”AndreaPatten”] I\u2019m not interested in loud, brassy self-improvement like artificially adding \u201cbest-selling\u201d to my author bio; but continuing to improve as a writer? To be recognized by my peers? That feels right \u2014 especially when I couple that commitment with the hope that what I produce lands with people who will enjoy it and, perhaps benefit from some of the ideas. It\u2019s not a SMART goal but it\u2019s a way of thinking about life and growth that\u2019s meaningful to me right now. Humility Makes us Real [bctt tweet=”Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real. ~\u00a0Thomas Merton” username=”AndreaPatten”] Until checking the dictionary, I thought I might be trying to approach self-improvement with humility. But once there, it became apparent that I needed to discard most parts of that definition. Rejecting \u201ca feeling of insignificance\u201d and \u201clow in rank\u201d left space for \u201cnot arrogant\u201d and \u201ccourteously respectful.\u201d So many definitions of humility seem to ask us to present ourselves as \u201cless than\u201d and, to me, that doesn\u2019t square with acceptance. What if humility is an accurate self-appraisal and an understanding that there are those whose skills are better than ours and those who know other things? Perhaps it has more to do with just being or with something our culture has rechristened \u201cauthenticity.\u201d Practice Radical Humility [bctt tweet=”Practice radical humility. Take no credit for your talents, intellectual abilities, aptitudes… ~ Wayne Dyer ” username=”AndreaPatten”] Searching for others\u2019 thoughts on humility led me to a pair of popular writers whose work embraced a combination of creativity, spirituality, and helpfulness. \u00a0Thinking about them together makes me smile as I picture them having a cup of coffee together. I wonder if they\u2019d enjoy the other\u2019s company \u2014 and what the conversation would be. My first Maya Angelou quotation places me (or \u201cus\u201d if you choose to join me) in a continuum. It places us in time, honoring those who came before and those who will follow. \u201cWhat humility does for one is it reminds us that there are people before me. I have already been paid for. And what I need to do is prepare myself so that I can pay for someone else who has yet to come but who may be here and needs me.\u201d And, as is true with almost anything I\u2019ve ever read by her, she points us to honesty. \u201cWhenever I’m around some who is modest, I think, ‘Run like hell and all of fire.’ You don’t want modesty, you want humility.\u201d I finally arrived at a favorite thought from Wayne Dyer. His advice? \u201cPractice radical humility. Take no credit for your talents, intellectual abilities, aptitudes, or proficiencies. Be in a state of awe and bewilderment.\u201d So What? [bctt tweet=”How can I incorporate humility into my day-to-day life? Here are five simple ideas, a list that could be titled \u201cDon\u2019t Be a Jerk.\u201d” username=”AndreaPatten”] So what can I do with this? How can I incorporate humility into my day-to-day life? Here are five simple ideas, a list that could, perhaps, be titled \u201cFive Simple Ways to be a Better Person\u201d or \u201cDon\u2019t Be Such a Jerk.\u201d Turn off your cell phone. I like instant access as much as the next person but liberal use of your smart phone\u2019s Do Not Disturb function allows us to be fully present to the meal we are eating and the people with whom we share it. (Pro tip: I didn\u2019t know how, so I asked the artificial intelligence to do it for me!) Vacuum behind the furniture. I\u2019m far (way too far) from being a neat freak but this one speaks to our place in time and doing our work completely whether or not anyone else will see it. Supermarket behavior. Some venues are better practice than others and for me this is it. When I can let someone go ahead of me in line or return their empty cart, my behavior says their time (and their car doors) matter as much as mine. Passing along a favorite book may say \u201cI thought of you while I read this.\u201d (Or, in the case of self-help? \u201cI got a lot out of this, would you like it next?\u201d) Saying \u201cplease\u201d and \u201cthank you\u201d \u2014 frequently and in many formats. A text. A hand written note. A small gift. The more I practice this the more ideas come my way. Please share your thoughts on humility and self-improvement in the comments. Thank you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13564,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6,9],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-13553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-happiness","category-self-care","category-thinking"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13553\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13553"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=13553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}