POSITIVITY
  • Workshops
    • Calendar
  • Resources
    • Shop
    • Blog
    • Books
    • Podcast >
      • Hashtag Positivity Podcast
      • On A Positive Note Podcast
      • It's the Climb Podcast
    • Quotes
    • Free Minicourses >
      • Magic Words
    • Grow with the Flow
    • Principles of Happiness
  • Connect
Magic Words

HUMILITY

1/10/2022

0 Comments

 
"Humility empowers you with realistic self-confidence, collaboration & life-long growth."​ — Jonas Cain
​Read the full story ⬇︎
Most of the details are now forgotten, but two names have stayed with me, even after all this time. 

Athena is the one who called me out, causing a rush of humiliation to crash over me. 

Nick wasn’t even there, but he was the one receiving the brunt of my tacit deceit. 

Just to be clear, my behavior that day was not motivated by a desire to hurt Nick. Rather, it was motivated by a desire to preserve my own reputation and good standing in the group. 

The problem is, sometimes in an effort to save ourselves, we can hurt others along the way—whether intentionally or unintentionally. And in middle school, I learned that lesson the hard way.

Nick, Athena, and I (and a fourth person who I’ve long since forgotten) were working together for several days on a group project for social studies class. 

I don’t remember who the fourth person was—most likely because my interaction with them hadn’t elicited an emotional connection.

And I also don’t remember what the project was about—again, most likely because it hadn’t tapped into the affective domain of experiences that can embed lasting bookmarks in our memories.

But what I do remember is that on this particular day in question, Nick was absent from class and there was a particularly important piece of paper that we needed to help us finish the project—but none of us could find it.

Someone suggested that Nick probably had it, and the other agreed—and together they started saying terrible things about Nick for leaving us high and dry.

As for me, I had no words. As a shy kid who preferred to stay invisible, I was just glad they weren’t talking about me.

But when class was nearly over that day, I discovered the real reason why we couldn't find that most important piece of paper: it was hiding behind some papers in my backpack.

At first, I was relieved to have discovered it! But the relief was short-lived, because my thoughts then turned to how my partners had spoken so poorly of Nick. I became sick to my stomach. I didn’t want to tell them I found the paper because I didn’t want them to turn their anger toward me. 

So instead, I contrived a devious plan to avoid humiliation, by secretly placing the paper onto the floor under the desks. I reasoned that eventually, someone would “discover” it there, and they would assume one of us had simply dropped it—but no one would know who.

But just as I put this plan into action, Athena caught me in the act and immediately recognized the paper as the one we had been looking for.

“You’re trying to pretend it’s been there the whole time!" she scolded. "I saw you do it! You’re lying!”

I had no words. Just like I had no words in defense of Nick.

I was completely humiliated.

This experience taught me a valuable lesson—a lesson that was felt and understood immediately in the moment, and over the course of nearly three decades was eventually put into words:

We can choose to be humble, or we can wait to be humiliated.

As agents of Free Will, the choice is ours.

Which do you choose?

Reflection
Think about a time in your life when a lack of humility led to humiliation. How has this experience affected your behavior? And what might you do to bring more humility into your life to empower positive relationships?

WANT MORE?
Hashtag Positivity can help you and the people you influence experience joy through change management coaching, leadership development workshops, and community engagement keynotes and assemblies. Connect with Jonas today to discuss your challenges, goals, and obstacles.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    JONAS CAIN, M.Ed.

    Facilitator

    Jonas Cain, M.Ed. is a storyteller, magician, musician, and facilitator of fascination on a mission to help you experience abiding joy.
    ​
    ​
    Connect with Jonas today to discuss your challenges, goals, and obstacles.

    Picture

    Magic Words

    All
    Acceptance
    Action
    Adapt
    Adventure
    Affirmation
    Ally
    April Fools
    Atonement
    Attention
    Authenticity
    Balance
    Banner
    Beautiful
    Behavior
    Belief
    Birthday
    Boat
    Books
    Boundaries
    Breathe
    Care
    Celebration
    Challenge
    Change
    Character
    Cheese
    Choice
    Clarity
    Climb
    Commitment
    Communication
    Compassion
    Compliant
    Confidence
    Connection
    Courage
    Creativity
    Discernment
    Discovery
    Disruption
    Dominant
    Doubt
    Dream
    Education
    Empower
    Encourage
    Engage
    Enjoy
    Enjoyment
    Enthusiasm
    Excel
    Excellence
    Explore
    Facilitate
    Fascination
    Fear
    Focus
    Forgiveness
    Friendship
    Gap
    Generosity
    Gentle
    Grand
    Gratitude
    Growth
    Happiness
    Health
    Hermit
    Honor
    Hope
    Humility
    Humor
    Independence
    Influence
    Influencing
    Initiative
    Inspiration
    Integrity
    Interest
    Invention
    Invest
    Journey
    Joy
    Kindness
    Lane
    Laughter
    Leadership
    Legacy
    Listen
    Live
    Love
    Magic
    Mentor
    Mindfulness
    Mindset
    Momentum
    Motion
    Motivation
    Necessity
    Opportunity
    Passion
    Pathway
    Patience
    Perseverance
    Persistence
    Perspective
    Play
    Positivity
    Possibility
    Preparation
    Presence
    Prize
    Process
    Purpose
    Quantify
    Recognition
    Reflection
    Relationships
    Relax
    Remembrance
    Repentance
    Resilience
    Resolution
    Resources
    Respect
    Responsibility
    Reward
    Sacrifice
    Sail
    Smile
    Stasis
    Steady
    Storm
    Summit
    Support
    Surprise
    Talent
    Teamwork
    Thanksgiving
    Ticket
    Time
    Today
    Tools
    Transformation
    Trust
    Understand
    Value
    Vision
    Wind
    Wonder

    Picture

    Archives

    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017

Picture

JONAS CAIN
​Facilitator of Fascination
800-969-9778 | ​jonas@hashtagpositivity.com

#POSITIVITY

WORKSHOPS | RESOURCES | CONNECT

© 2023
  • Workshops
    • Calendar
  • Resources
    • Shop
    • Blog
    • Books
    • Podcast >
      • Hashtag Positivity Podcast
      • On A Positive Note Podcast
      • It's the Climb Podcast
    • Quotes
    • Free Minicourses >
      • Magic Words
    • Grow with the Flow
    • Principles of Happiness
  • Connect