Where self-kindness meets humility

I’ve come to realise, there’s a difference between putting myself down, and embracing a healing humility.

It’s a hard distinction to see, in a world that can equate being humble with a lack of confidence.

If we’re all encouraged to ‘win’ at life, then what do we make of someone who doesn’t need – or even want – a high level of external validation?

In my case, when I don’t need to brag about how accomplished (or ‘right’) I am, it’s because I’m in a good place, where I don’t really need to focus on me all that much.

In that place, I’m more interested in we: in how we can reflect off each other, and see how we all shine, in our own way.

In that place, self-kindness isn’t a way to bypass self-awareness.

In that place, being kind to myself doesn’t have to mean pretending that I’m perfect, or better-than anyone else.

Instead, it’s a way of growing the courage to accept myself as imperfectly human, a work-in-progress on my own growth journey, alongside other beings on their own paths.

Perhaps the sort of humility I’m reflecting on is a healthy part of our shared human-ness.

I’m curious also about finding a humble way to live in a changing climate, about how our relationship with the earth could change if we embraced more humility (but that’s probably another post!).

Here’s a little poem to close with…

For those of you that are poetically-inclined, I’ve also just added a Mindfulness Poems page with a few pieces that have emerged from my own practice.