Good to see you back babe.

Your article reminded me of an ad for Legoiste aftershave that bore the quote 'For the man that walks the fine line between arrogance and confidence'. I actually think that the line between these two isn't that fine at all. Arrogance is based on a kind of fear - of what others think, of making the grade, of making sure everyone knows that you are good enough. Confidence is public self acceptance - it's not about whether you are the best, the fastest, the richest or the smartest but knowing that whatever you have is enough. AND whatever anyone else has is enough. Kind of like the humility you speak of.

Anyway - I am rambling. Good to see you around here again! You take care.

Suz xxx

No BAM!!! at the end???
Is this really you or has SPM taken over your personality completely?

Your internal conflict really shows in this blog.  On one hand you are important, on the other you are nobody.  How is that possible?  I think that finding comfort in your own skin is something you haven't achieved even if you think you have.  If you had, you wouldn't feel compelled to tout your physical prowess or any other "superior" trait you see yourself having.  You are right though, recognizing that you need humility and actually having the desire to learn it are commendable things and are the first step.

Best wishes.

 

mark, I am in full support of jills' comment. i thought these might be appropriate in your quest:

 

"I have three precious things which I hold fast and prize. The first is gentleness; the second is frugality; the third is humility, which keeps me from putting myself before others. Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be liberal; avoid putting yourself before others and you can become a leader among men."    ~ Lao Tzu

 

 

"Your soul is oftentimes a battlefield, upon which your reason and your judgment wage war against passion and your appetite. If either your sails or our rudder be broken, you can but toss and drift, or else be held at a standstill in mid-seas.  For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining; and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction. He who is more mindful of one loses the love and the faith of both". ~ Kahlil Gibran

 

i wish you well in your path, but remember that empathy and humility go hand in hand.

 

mig.

The day you don't have to think about the distance is the day you breach the distance between yourself and humility.

What you find commendable in the attempt is often what prevents you from reaching the end of that attempt.

You're a good person Muggaz. You're mindful and considerate. You're sometimes wrong, but who isn't? There is no need for justification. Just live and keep a smile on your face and find someone to love and love those who love you and speak when it's best to and keep silent when its called for and never go hungry and keep those you love from harm and do whatever it is that makes you happy as long as it impeaches on no other. And when you get it right you will have to utter not a single word to another because they will look at you once and recognise what it is to be happy and content, and here's to that day coming for all of us.

Marco

Here's an alternate view:

Benjamin Franklin wrote in his biology that when he was young, he constructed a list of all the qualities which he considered paramount to the perfection of his personality. He then concentrated diligently on each quality for one month, and when he had achieved that quality (moderation, sincerity, etc), he would move on to the next. His conclusion was that achieving perfection of character is intrinsically impossible, for once one focuses on one quality, all other positive qualities previously learned fade away. You can only be one good thing at a time.

I would assert that, although perfection is obviously a goal that can never be reached, it is at least theoretically attainable. Benjamin Franklin tried to focus on a single component of his character at a time, and I believe that was his failing point. Just as an archer never focuses solely on the angle of his arrow (or else his stance or his bow handling would cause him to be inaccurate), a person cannot focus only on humility and except his or her other virtue to remain intact.

Allow me to suggest that the solution to this problem is having a core set of values and philosophies that define a holistic goal for your personality. Once these goals are met, you have attained perfection, but in the meanwhile, the character as a whole improves, and there is no area in your life that remains undeveloped.

By consistently adhering to beliefs and values, one finds that one is free to participate in all the goodness of life without the laborious burden of concentrating on being perfect in one singular respect. A holistic plan for improvement, then, leads not only to a better man but a happier and more fulfilled man.

That wasn't really a fully developed idea, but it's an embryo with potential, and it's something I believe pretty strongly but have never put in to words. Hope it made sense.

Dan

AHEM... umm, I meant in his biography...

Dan

some humble pie for some moral fibre.

I make a mean apple pie but I can't say that it contains much moral fibre.

Welcome back. Good blog--I'm looking forward to more.

-A.

Some exceptions, but overall it should be must reading for Bush.

Mig, also excellent advice for a president.

I am a Texan — bullish and resolute —

spawning  decisiveness that's never wrong;

When I move to action be assured it is absolute

because I am blest by God to make me strong.

My Texas strut is the natural cadence

of  commander in chief with confidence.

GW

guess it’s just something I need to work on, and with time I hope it will come… Sure, to anyone else, I am no one special, I should never care what others think of me, and most of the time I don’t, I don’t know why at times I seek validation from my peers to make me feel important, because I am important no matter what anyone else says, like you are important as well.

Whip made me do this! You've written a great blog and this line is all too truthful.

Bush bash...

It's called bushwacking.

 

What would a blog be these days without some mention of US politics?

Anyway, I wouldn't get too worried about being humble or arrogant. Sure humble people are likable, but they also get walked over. Sure arrogant people exude confidence and are often (intentionally or not) funny, but they are also usually easily fooled. So really there's no point encouraging either attribute. It's better just to laugh at everything and remember: introspection is so 1990s.

it's not about whether you are the best, the fastest, the richest or the smartest but knowing that whatever you have is enough. AND whatever anyone else has is enough. Kind of like the humility you speak of.

Insightful as always Suz... thanks for dropping by... i do think that after shave would be suitable for me though

No BAM!!! at the end???Is this really you or has SPM taken over your personality completely?

Ya - no more BAM!!! from me mano... i think it was bad for my perception - by that, I mean the perception of others of me... now we are all confused and no, this is not SPM

i wish you well in your path, but remember that empathy and humility go hand in hand.

Thanks Mig... your quotes from the Tao Te Cheng and from Gibran are like road maps to inner peace - they are appreciated.

Best wishes.

Jill - I wouldn't be anywhere without the wishes of others, and your comment was noted and welcomed, i appreciate what you had to say, and it really shows you understood what i was writing about.

The day you don't have to think about the distance is the day you breach the distance between yourself and humility.What you find commendable in the attempt is often what prevents you from reaching the end of that attempt.

Insightful Insightful Insightful... thanks for your kind words Marco - I am very happy to see you here, you advice and observations are certainly astute, and I would be wise to take heed - good show old chap

That wasn't really a fully developed idea, but it's an embryo with potential, and it's something I believe pretty strongly but have never put in to words. Hope it made sense.

It made sense Dan - you are a freaken genius... are we focusing on who we are if we are trying to be someone else though? being confident is part of who I am, and it gets me in trouble, but by the same token, as Cactoblasta put so eloquently, those that are too humble get walked all over, and that is just not me - there has to be a happy middle ground of confidence and humility, and that is what I am searching for... I certainly think you are on to something though.

Welcome back. Good blog--I'm looking forward to more.

It's good to be back A - you can still make me some Apple pie

Some exceptions, but overall it should be must reading for Bush.

I don't think America would follow a humble leader - thats just my personal opinion, but your sentiment is noted, and cerainly most welcome here mate

introspection is so 1990s

That made me laugh ever so much Cacto - thanks for your kind words.

and no, this is not SPM

TG!!!! You made my day Mark.
It's really great to have you back...I missed you.

Muggaz: Nice to see you back here.

When we in India, think of Australia, we (I) think of sheep, Beer(Fosters), convicts, vast lands where we hear you need a helicopter to carry you from one farm to the next, Shane Warne.

And since I've been reading your blogs, I do associate Australia with Muggaz too. Keep those articles coming....