Humble, Radiant Hogg (Pig)

I apologize for my recent hiatus. This has been an eventful month both at home and at work filled with sickness and increased workload. I could do without the sickness, but I’m enjoying the busy schedule. To be honest I poured myself into this blog during a time when I needed the therapy. Now I find myself rolling again, but I don’t want to neglect the joy I’ve found in writing my thoughts; just probably not as often as before. With that said, here goes nothing!

WORD SEARCH CONTINUED: HUMBLE

When my daughter Brynlee gets hooked on a movie she watches it until the DVD no longer functions. Right now she is on Barbie princess movies. Before that she was consumed by CARS. But before all the other movies there was Charlotte’s Web. Lucky for me this was during the time when we drove back-and-fourth from Lubbock to Houston for the holidays. I think I can quote this movie verbatim and I’ve never actually visibly seen the movie. You know you can learn a lot from a spider. After all she’s the one that said, “People are very gullible. They'll believe anything they see in print.” That’s why I blog!

In her search for words to describe Wilbur, and save him from ending up on a plate at the breakfast table, Charlotte tabs Wilbur as “humble.” Charlotte says, “Humble has two meanings. It means ‘not proud’ and ‘close to the ground.’ That's Wilbur all over.”

That’s who I want to be, a radiant, humble, Hogg! (Can you be radiant and humble?)

I’ve been reading a book by Stephen M.R. Covey called The Speed of Trust where he describes a humble person as someone that “is more concerned about what is right than about being right, about acting on good ideas than having the ideas, about embracing new truth than defending outdated position, about building the team than exalting self, about recognizing contribution than being recognized for making it.” Wow, what a mouthful, but what a statement to live by. Covey goes on to say,

Being humble does not mean being weak, reticent, or self-effacing. It means recognizing principle and putting ahead of self. It means standing firmly for principle, even in the face of opposition. Humble people can negotiate intensely. They can drive hard bargains. They can express themselves firmly and clearly in intense situations in close personal relationships. But they do not get caught up in arrogance, bravado, manipulation, or win-lose power plays….Humble people also realize clearly that they do not stand alone, but rather on the shoulders of those who have gone before, and that they move upward only with the help of others.

Man I have a lot to learn and a long ways to go! I know who a few, and I mean a few, of my faithful readers are and I know they ALL agree with me, especially when it comes to being right (even though I’ve never been wrong!). To be honest I’m not sure I’m not everything negative in Covey’s first statement. I like to be right. I like to have good ideas. I like to stand by my beliefs. I like to be recognized. Ouch. The scary thing is we will all be humbled at some point in time. As Jesus said in Luke 14:11, “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

So, starting today, I’m going to strive to be “more concerned about what is right rather than being right.” I’m going to focus more on action rather than ideas. I’m going to be open to new ideas. I’m determined to be more about “we” than “I”. And I’m going to recognize contribution from others and not worry about personal recognition.

I hope you will join me. Aspire to new heights!