Why Being Humble is About Showing Up, Not Hiding

Being humble isn’t… 

I grew up with a really limited vision of what I thought being humble, or having humility, meant.  

I was raised to believe that humble living was a cornerstone of strength of character, and a quality to strive for, always. As I understood it, to have humility, to be humble, meant we must remember that we are not greater than those around us. We are not superior. We are not above. Doing life with a servant heart. 

These are valid and important concepts, and, in action, they’re beautiful. I was raised by, and grew up around, a village of some of the greatest examples of humility that I have ever personally known, and I am so grateful for those examples and that kind of family leadership. 

But for me, it started to carry a weight beyond the ideal it represented. I twisted it up. I made HUMBLE mean a directive to hide your greatest gifts, and certainly never to claim them. It was to avoid being seen. Humility meant acting and believing that you are lesser than, not good enough, unqualified, unremarkable. 

Be low and aim low, lest you convey an entitlement to more, better, higher than someone else. 

Here’s the thing though…In the greatest examples of humility you can study or share (for me, those examples are biblical, doesn't matter where they are for you), humility doesn’t come with a side of self-degradation and, most revealing to me, it was never about hiding. In which verse was it...

“No way, man, I’m not trying miracles again today. I think I just got lucky yesterday, dude! What if I can’t today? What if they laugh? What if they think I’m showing off?! And seriously, what if nobody claps, homie?! I’ll look so stupid! Tell ‘em to hit up someone more qualified, I’m gunna just hang back today.” 

HUMILITY DOESN'T HIDE  

Humility says we must not assume that it is everyone else’s job to create and innovate; It is not everyone else’s job to be the leader, to speak up, or to step out. We are not above those responsibilities, and that kind of work. 

We are not above risking failure, and doing it wrong, and falling down. It is not everyone’s job but ours to show up and risk being seen.  

It is not everyone’s job but our own to pursue their dreams and their callings, because the callings on our heart are the specific ways we are meant to serve. Be those callings big or small, or anywhere in between, to be humble is to know that it is our responsibility to answer those calls and serve the world in those ways, however ill-equipped or unqualified we feel. 

We are not the one unique individual who is exempt from the fear of risking, from trying things we don’t know how to do, from showing up fully and giving from where we are, with what we have. 

Humility doesn't say, "I'm too insignificant to make an impact." 

Yes, to be humble is to live without an inflated sense of self-importance, and to never see ourselves as above doing the work. Which means, to live without assuming “big things” are for everyone else to take care of. 

Humbly living is accepting that we ALL have the responsibility to show up as fully and completely as we are capable. It is to risk failure in pursuit of what we feel called to do or create or share, knowing that when we do, we will get it wrong more times than we will get it right. And all the while, to keep moving forward in uncertainty, and to keep sharing our unique gifts with the world. 

Humility isn’t about playing small, or believing you’re uniquely less than. It’s about serving. And you can’t serve anyone if you’re hiding, unwilling to play full out, unwilling to risk being seen, unwilling to pursue your dreams and callings. 

Humility isn’t about hiding. Humility is about SHOWING UP, fully. 

You may carry a much healthier definition of "humble" than I did. I know a lot of people that do, and I honor that. But in case you're stuck where I was, tripping over a half-baked definition of strength of character, hopefully this opens up your viewfinder, even just a little.

This is, of course, just my opinion, one person's story. But maybe it can be the start of you also changing yours. Because the meaning we make shapes our lives, and limits or expands our level of contribution. Your gifts, interests and callings weren’t an accident, and to be humble doesn't mean to keep them locked up for yourself, hidden from the world you were born into. 

In loving memory of Mom, Deb. Your light shines on. ❤️