MY PLACE – POETRY , AFFIRMATIONS & MORE

There have been many people flowing in and out of my life in the past few years. Some stayed and some I had to walk away from as the gaps in differences between us had grown too great; inevitably those friendships grew apart as most do.

What I have found about myself in the past couple years is that my values have changed with what I see as important in the people I keep close. I no longer focus on just the similarities or differences between us(although this has lead to some great friendships).

Now I sense and crave something much deeper from human nature: depth of character! Since I feel I have stumbled upon the most favorable quality and characteristic within human nature, I must spread the word: this gift I speak of is humility.

Much earlier on (as ashamed as I am to admit) I seen this gift as weakness; sad but true. The most humble persons I had met were introduced to me by the side of the road as they thanked me graciously after I offered a few coins to those hard on their luck (as some would say). I seen this gratitude offering and thankfulness as a desperate response to that gift of one more opportunity, one more evening, or one more hour of supporting a life with what-so-ever coping mechanisms that person needed to deal with; a life that was somehow less than mine( I know that’s ugly). All the while telling myself “who am I to judge”; I now realize I was doing just that, judging!

I have met teachers, clergy, health care professionals, parents, students, business leaders, white collar, blue collar; you name it, yet so very few have ever displayed this gift of humility, so I thought there is no way this can be good!

It wasn’t until a few months ago that I was fortunate enough to see and experience true humility among other people, and I’m not talking about those managing life on the street; keep in mind I also mentioned one or two other humble people I know that I assumed were just suffering from weakness of character.

When I witnessed this humble being, who I might add is educated and in a position of power, my world changed. I had never witnessed this before, wow! I was humbled and I soon realized that not only was this person truly humble, this person was also treating me as an equal. The sad truth is I had this happen so very rarely in my life that it was almost unrecognizable. Of course my gut reaction was to think that this was “fake”, a show, not real and just wait till their true colors come out…however the months went by and I soon realized this person was not fake, only true and real. I met a genuine humble person…someone who did not see themselves above me, served me and made me tea, cleaned toilets and washed dishes at the agency we worked, a true humble being! I knew this experience left me changed, I had been impacted forever (Thank you Joanne at Peel Aboriginal Network for this gift!) I only hope I could take this teaching and give others the hope that it is real, there are humble people!

The other humble person I was referring to earlier when referring to the person with weakness of character, was me. I have been told this “characteristic” of mine had many names: pushover, weak, doormat, sucker, softie, sensitive, loser ….to name but a few nasty ones, but now I know I can change the meaning of this trait for myself as I now can call it strength!

The weak person I had seen myself as began to evolve in my mind and heart .The weakness I had assumed was a character flaw now became a great strength of my character. I crave to know more, I crave to publicly emulate those who actually have true humility. Although this character within many people may be tucked away, I am not without hope. I have witnessed it now within others, as well as myself and my loving humble partner; who teaches me daily with his actions that I can always humble myself more. The messages of our generation have not been that of humility and giving; they are of power, wealth, shallow beauty, stuff, fame, and drugs etc, nothing that really should count.

I’m not saying we should always turn the other cheek; however I do feel we can inspire to bring this balance of character to our own lives, I will be forever trying to give to others the gift I received of some humble pie.

Just ask yourself ….who doesn’t really like pie?? Especially if it’s humble pie? Have a serving today!