What does it mean to be humble?

There are two main definitions for humility:

1) to not be proud or arrogant; modest

2) to have a feeling of insignificance and inferiority.

But, how much weight do either of these meanings hold in real life?

We live in a competitive world where we are all trying to find success and security, social media is constantly telling us to broadcast the highlights of our lives, and we receive praise from our parents and friends for an accomplishment.

We want to either be or have leaders who are confident, decisive, and courageous. The problem is, because we want those things so much, we avoid the opposite, out of fear that we may lose the chance at a job or not being taken seriously. Why do we have to be faced with the decision to choose between confidence and humility? Too much confidence can lead to arrogance and hubris but what about too much humility? Does that make someone weak? Does it make them vulnerable?

We live in a culture of "me" and if you aren't willing to do whatever it takes, you're seen as not being ready for the real world. The harsh reality is that yes, everyone will face a time in their lives when they have to set their morals aside and do something they don't want to do. But then that brings into question, if you are faced with this, are you really in the right place?

Up until now, I've met so many wonderful people who have inspired me to be a better version of myself and to not be ashamed for stumbling as I figure things out. What I now realize is that these people are the most humble individuals I've ever met. The reason they encourage me to accept my flaws and mistakes is because they've done that themselves. They've come to terms with who they are for better or for worse which in itself is what humility is all about; realizing that you don't have all the answers and you don't have to act like you do.

We've all been conditioned to make decisions in our lives that will help us reach success. If you're lucky, you find that you get to be successful while doing something you're passionate about. There are so many factors that play into why we chose to follow a profession but in the end, we all just want be satisfied. Whether one chooses external or internal achievement is up to them but for one of them, they'll be chasing after something insatiable for a long time.

I recently heard about two terms that play into all of this. They're called "resume virtues" and "eulogy virtues." Resume virtues are the skills you bring to the work place and eulogy virtues are the ones talked about after you're gone.

I don't know about you but I want to be remembered as the kind of person that didn't care if she were better than others but better than who she used to be. If in the end, I'm not looked at as the one who could be the most blunt, the most successful, or the toughest, I hope to be the one who put her whole heart into things that resulted in overwhelming feelings of gratitude.