Inner Strength - Humility and Compassion

I have had 2 incidents come to my attention in theourself or someone else.
last few days that have reminded me how importantFear always has an arrogant aspect to it, whether
Humility is.active againstothers, or passive against oneself. It is
A colleague shared about going to anothera refusal to connect with or to share with -- a
hypnotherapist for some help and the hypnotherapistcomplete lack of generosity.
tried to dictate what her problem was and onlyI find that thinking about a problem as being just a
became more insistent when my friend objected.problem of fear makes it easy for me to indulge it. If
A client who was horribly abused as a child objectedI look to see how the presence of fear indicates
vehemently when I asked if he wanted to connectthat I am being arrogant and mean-spirited, it is much
with that part of his psyche still acting as if it washarder for me to allow the fearful state to keep my
the child. To my surprise, he said, "No way! I hateinterest. For me, the thought of being arrogant or
him."mean burns and inspires me to find a greater clarity
These to incidents highlighted for me the ways inand openness of heart.
which we attack ourself or another because of theIt helps to open to Humility as the antidote to the
arrogance of thinking our view is the true and onlyarrogance if I understand that humility is not
view.meekness but kindness to myself. It is a kindness to
One of my spiritual teachers has said that Humility isopen to my true relationship with life rather than
Compassion towards oneself.persist in my fearful fantasy.
This made sense to me when I realized that it is aTry opening to Humility by simply stopping for 30
kindness to myself to reject fearful thoughts whoseseconds, andstretching your arms out and up
essential message is that I'm not good enough, ortowards the sky and breathing in fully and gently.
strong enough, or smart enough, or lacking in someImagine how you would feel at the end of the day if
other way.you took this break to open and breathe every 30
Seeing this, it became clear that Humility is the sourceminutes, or every hour, or every time you noticed
of truestrength. True strength enables us to rejectyourself getting tense. Go beyond imagining -- do it
fear and the temptation to act on fear which usuallyand discover the power of Humility. Can you be this
means to commit some form of violence againstgenerous with yourself? Good luck!