Lessons from the Wild #10

hum·ble (adjective)

1.  not proud or arrogant; modest
2.  having a feeling of insignificance, inferiority, subservience, etc.
3.  low in rank, importance, status, quality, etc.
4.  courteously respectful
5.  low in height, level, etc.

Is humility practical?  How do we practice the virtue of humility in such a competitive world?

How can anyone achieve success without ambition and a competitive spirit? Who doesn't feel elated and proud after accomplishing something great?

On the surface, humility appears to be a foreign concept in our modern world.

We can all agree that humility is an admirable quality in others, because we feel comfortable around people who are humble. But when it comes to ourselves, we may consider humility a hindrance to success and a by-product of failure. Perhaps, humility seems to make sense only when we feel defeated. Then, we can at least claim that we've learned the important virtue of humility, until we are ready to get back on our feet to fight yet another battle. Though it seems rational, this line of reasoning actually prevents us from achieving a deeper understanding of the virtue of humility.

Real humility means having a healthy perspective of one’s own abilities (suffering neither egotism nor low self esteem) as well as one’s own limitations and a value for the importance and abilities of others.

In most religions, humility is a sign of respect for a higher power -

• Christianity provides the classic religious statement of humility, "Blessed be the meek for they shall inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5).
• In Islam (which itself means surrender), humility is a primary virtue.
• Taoism focuses believers' thoughts on the awesome beauty and wonder of Nature. As you ponder the magnificence of Nature, you learn to respect our place relative to the stars and the seasons - a humbling experience.
• Buddhism teaches that, through humility, one can release anger and learn to live a life free from attachments and suffering.

For me, wandering through a vast and majestic landscape is incredibly humbling.  It's where I feel most a part of something larger than myself, and where I also feel most vulnerable.

I've recently been reading an interesting biography of Howard Zahniser, an early American environmental activist and primary author of the Wilderness Act of 1964.  Zahniser was a gifted writer and eloquently wrote about the importance of nature, and wilderness:

“A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”

In preserving Wilderness we are essentially preserving an endangered experience, and an endangered idea — the idea that self-willed landscape has value and should exist.

Wilderness offers the opportunity to experience a relationship between humans and nature that is increasingly rare in our modern world, a relationship in which humans do not dominate, manipulate, or control nature but instead immerse ourselves as a member in the larger community of life. 

“Without the gadgets, the inventions, the contrivances whereby men have seemed to establish among themselves an independence of nature, without these distractions, to know wilderness is to know a profound humility, to recognize one’s littleness, to sense dependence and interdependence, indebtedness, and responsibility.”  - Howard Zahniser

Keeping the idea of Wilderness alive requires our participation in a special relationship with these landscapes that is very different from the utilitarian, commodity-oriented manner in which modern society generally interacts with nature. Preserving the idea of Wilderness requires humans to exercise humility and restraint, not dominance over the land and its natural processes. The opportunity to experience this kind of relationship with nature is an increasingly rare experience in our modern world. Designated Wilderness is the only landscape where this form of interaction between humans and the rest of nature is written into law.

“A conservationist is one who is humbly aware that with each stroke [of the axe] he is writing his signature on the face of the land.”  - Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac

Embrace the virtue of humility and all it can offer:

• By remaining humble, you are receptive to opportunities to improve.
• Humility is a virtue for inner well-being. Frustrations and losses don’t have the same impact if you don’t get your ego involved. If you combine humility with motivation, you have the ability to drive towards successes without letting the failures knock you out of balance.

“By seeing the seed of failure in every success, we remain humble. By seeing the seed of success in every failure we remain hopeful.” - Unknown