Humility Hurts

Yesterday was really fun. In the morning, my companion and I destroyed Brother Swanson in one of his favorite games. This is two weeks in a row, where usually he wins almost every time.  As we drove away, we got a text from him: "Humility hurts."

It's true. Nobody in this world wants to be humble.  It's just not in our nature.  We are the center of the world, and we're very comfortable to have it stay that way.

That's one of my bigger problems, really.  I want to have it my way, and if that means someone else gets trampled, so be it.  It's hard to be humble, because that requires sacrifice.

"What, you mean that I shouldn't play soccer on Sunday because it's the Sabbath? But I want to, so I'm going to do it anyway."
"I have to obey this rule? But that's such a dumb rule! Besides, it's not really that important."

It all seems to point back to us. We put ourselves in competition with God and with our fellow man.

So what's the solution?  I don't know if I've found it yet.  I don't know if there is one great do-all-to-end-all pride.  However, I can point out a few things that I've found helpful.

Step Back
The first thing we need to do is step back.  Step back from the petty cares of the world.  Throw out any personal pronouns that are being used.  I've always found it helpful to think not so much about who's right as what's right.

Often, when I've been using the computer for a long time, I have to use the 20-20 rule. For every twenty minutes I spent basking in the light of the monitor, I spend twenty seconds looking at something far away.  If I don't do this, I get an excruciating headache.  It's the same thing with life. Occasionally, we have to step back from our perception of life--the few pixels that we see--to see things how God sees them--the whole world.  If we can just get away from ourselves, we can learn better who we are. Once that happens, we realize just how few things we can do without Jesus Christ.

Remember
Believe it or not, I am a very forgetful person.  I don't do names or faces, and I probably couldn't tell you what I was doing three days ago.  That's why I find it so helpful to use a little book where I write important information, spanish words I'm learning, appointments, people I need to call, etc.  If I don't have that, I cannot function.

As human beings, we are naturally forgetful.  (I'm not trying to excuse myself, I'm just saying what I'm seeing.) What child has never called home and told a fretful parent to please come quick, because the permission slip that they've had in their backpack for two weeks is now due, still unsigned?  When the parent asks why the child didn't ask them to sign the sheet, the child replies, "I forgot."  (That happened to me about a dozen times.   My mom must be a saint, because she always came.)

The only way that we're going to remember who we truly are is to dwell on it often. We do that through prayer, studying the scriptures, and going to church.  I cannot state how important that is.  If we do not remember, we do not do. And if we do not do, why are we here?

Be Patient
This is difficult part.  We know what we want, and we want it now.  (This is another manifestation of pride.)  If we just have faith in God, we know that everything else will come.  We're willing to wait on someone that we've never really seen.  We know that if we do our part, God will do his.


I'm still learning. I'm a novice, a n00b in internet terms.  I have a long road ahead of me, but I'm going to press forward with faith.  I hope this has helped you.