Life is about being humble and able to share ourselves

We start with a small example here. While traveling in the mail train, some years ago I had a nice chat with an old lady sitting next to me. While I was getting off, she quoted "You talk very sweetly, I really enjoyed talking with you! I never felt the difference in education among us". That was a nice compliment, but today I realized while writing this article that the talk was filled with humbleness and politeness.

Actually it all grows with age and experience and exposure to the world. Dawning of the fact that we are just a drop in the ocean and we are not the only one in the world, the best to know everything. Because each person knows something, and is good at something. Together we can achieve more. The clarity of us instead of I. The willingness to respect others around us, despite any high low profile. job they do. For example: do we respect the taxi driver/ security person etc. A clarification: Humbleness, does not mean that we should think low about ourselves. Do not confuse it with self esteem

Whereas politeness is a habit, it is inculcated at any age and it comes from the way we are brought up at home and at school. It is displaying respect for others in the way we talk and interact with others. It is displayed in our actions and our responses to others around you. Being polite to seniors, elders is quite common. But being polite to even those below you in rank or designation, is not everyone's cup of tea. Raising voice does not show the sign of seniority! From my experience being humble and polite can go a long way in becoming happy, building relationships and career growth. I have experienced the fruits of both and they are worth it.

While a person is humble when he or she chooses to be modest, despite the fact that he or she is far more superior in terms of position in life however, the person can also be humble, when he or she doesn't have a privilege and is in a position which is actually modest or low in terms of position. The first person is humble in the positive sense which means despite the advantages he or she has, the person prefers to be modest.

Maybe the virtue of humbleness was encouraged in the family, when the the person was growing and the value was picked up by the person. In traditional wisdom the humbleness has been stressed. The virtue is stressed in story- telling and folklores. The person may feel that over - confidence and projection may cause further difficulties later and being humble can help in dealing with the situation. The unnecessary excitement and emotional impact can be minimal.

You don't claim the credit and do your job quietly and hence you can't be discredited. Sometimes in organizations, there are lots of competitors who try to bring down people who appear too prominent. Being low profile can help in avoiding confrontation with such people. The humble person in the second group may have lack of knowledge, resources and confidence. The person may be scared and too docile. Due to the relationship issues may also be scared to assert and choose to please people. Being humble in such a way is definitely not a good quality and the person must learn social skills to become assertive and self - aware.

And being polite is more of a positive virtue, as it is mainly seen in terms of being respectful and courteous to others and its a learnt behavior. It's also related to the idea of being good to others, so that others will be good to you. It's more of a Karma principle and appears to be working well for most of the people. People may also learn to identify the Authority figures and typically show politeness along with obedience to them, as a socially intelligent behavior. Cheers!