No matter how much we know, we have something to learn. We are not experts in all things, we are imperfect, and make mistakes. Humility keeps us connected to our humanity by reminding us that others aren’t here to hurt us.
“Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord, but an accurate weight is His delight. When pride comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom.” Proverbs 11:1,2
Sometimes we feel demolished by the actions of others. We convince ourselves they are nibbling and gnawing at our soul. Within this maw of misery we isolate ourselves in the shadows of bleakness, victimize our own spirit and refuse to see the beauty in all things. When our world is filled with darkness nothing else matters except our leafless tree, separated from its island of peace, floating about in the scary sea. We feel alone, and lost, and the harsh ebb and flow of the waves render us weary, and we lose the ability to bestow positivity.
The world feels unfair, and we begin to overreact, we set unreasonable terms, and tear at our own flesh to hurt others. We are the first to lay blame as our fingers point and paint an impossible image that further isolates us. Our anger becomes hatred, and we vow vengeance. As we continue to turn against humility we embrace our arrogance. We over inflate our achievements and seek to replenish our spirit with the immense pleasure of old accomplishments. These successes satiate our soul for a second, but the hunger grows, and we need more. Pride is a poison; it warps our sight and leads to suffering. It begins as a subtle fire in a stack of old leaves and twigs, and as we fan the flame it roars into a conflagration that burns our forest to the ground.
Our spirit needs to eat, it must be given a healthy diet of hope, but when we give it a plate of pride it becomes a predator. Our Mogwai loses its fur, and its skin hardens into scales, transforming into a gruesome gremlin. It becomes addicted to the immense pleasure of personal accomplishment. This drive will weigh the scales against everyone, by pushing us to punish others for seemingly insignificant slights and spreading suffering. The pain we choose to impose on others is without purpose and they are left to burn in the forge of sorrow until we let them go.
Everyone makes mistakes, and no one is perfect. Humility helps us hold ourselves to the same standard we condemn others with. It asks us if we could have made a better decision. This powerful force reminds us that hindsight is 20/20, that it is wrong to judge someone’s character by the sum of a few seconds, and we must always be willing to forgive.
Humility keeps our third eye open and healthy; it helps us remain wise and reminds us that pride leads to arrogance, hatred, and vengeance. It helps us maintain harmony in our life, frees our soul and allows us to treat others fairly. It encourages us to help the world embrace the wonder of the world and to be open to love.
“Love is patient and kind, love does not envy or boast, it is not arrogant.” Corinthians 13:4.
If we expect to make our way in the massage industry we must live with love. We must be humble and willing to forgive. The moment we fail to see we are equally bumbling through this existence as everyone else, we damn ourselves to the fate of drowning in the river Styx. We must not allow hatred, arrogance, and vengeance to eat our life, and purpose.
Our industry is suffering because humility is absent in our personal life, career, and professional philosophy. Walking our road is akin to the Greek afterlife. Our life ends the moment we begin investing in the service of others. The second we graduate from school we are sent off to another world, where we discover it is far colder than we were told. A swampy, hellish river blocks our path, and we must have a coin to pay the ferryman to continue our quest. The coin is the divine gift of humility. If we have earned it in the life before, we can use it to pay Charon, and avoid a century of purgatory, or suffering through the hellish waters of the river Styx. Do we possess the strength to be in line with the divine, or do we jump into the water and swim with pride, arrogance, and hatred? We must make a choice.
The river Styx is the meat grinder of massage, and it is filled with every soul who has lost their way. Only those with humility, empathy and creativity are able to pull themselves from the water, crawl through the rocky beach and gaze lovingly toward the blessed isles beyond the sea.
It doesn’t matter if you are a Christian, if you believe God revealed himself before Moses on Mount Sinai, if you worship God, or any god. Humility reveals to us that there is a greater truth we are not capable of understanding, because we are mortal creatures in a pool of billions. We can only know so much, do some much and be responsible for so much.
Sometimes reading scripture, and holy texts of any religion can be a jarring experience. We often push against them because these are things we cannot see. Perhaps we were hurt by someone who devoted themselves to the extreme of a particular ideology. Maybe all of it seems silly, and certainly there isn’t anything to learn from someone’s writing from thousands of years ago. These thoughts and feelings are arrogant and prideful. We can learn from any source, no matter how silly, archaic, or ancient it may seem. We can gleam knowledge and wisdom from everyone, whether it is from a child, a dead man, or an dying addict in an alleyway.
As massage therapists we must have our eyes open, so our third eye can see. When we choose blindness over wisdom we will stumble into every wall and fall into every trap.
We spend so much time extinguishing our beliefs toward things we cannot see that we lose sight of their meaning. Why do we believe? It anchors us to our reality, grants us purpose and fuels our passion. With belief we can achieve harmony, look inwardly, and set our spirit free. Belief can do many things, and it is not limited to tranquility.
It is ok to assume the beliefs of others are absurd, wrong, or even immoral. You have the right to cast judgements towards others. Judgement is an important component to survival, but when we allow our pride, arrogance, and vengeance to replace our humility we miss golden opportunities to learn from the wisdom of others.
We all worship something. We don’t have to believe in God to be a good person, not all gods are good, and not all ideas are great. Sometimes we venerate an idea above all things, and this can be wonderful. I have known many atheists who love life, celebrate humanity, and believe every second is sacred, because we only have one to live, and when it is gone, it is gone forever. I do not elevate myself above them, because there is peace in their words, and truth. They have wisdom in their heart I do not have, and I want to listen to the knowledge they have to offer.
Sometimes in the absence of a formalized deity people gravitate toward the god of fear, self-obsession, and arrogance. This god doesn’t really have a name, but it does have a religion. The religion oddly can be found in all religions because the idea is so primal, it is our bestial nature to survive at all costs. When we worship this god it pushes us to place our needs before all others. It tells us we are the most wise, skilled, and knowledgeable. It values time over quality, and strips others of their harmony, rights, and quality of life. Though our instincts press us to survive there is a greater meaning to our existence than enduring more years. When we worship fear it gums up our gears and makes reality unclear. It steals away our sails leaving us to drift in an empty sea. Embracing the deity of fear enslaves our spirit and infects others with suffering, by steering us toward self-obsession, arrogance, and pride.
