DOOR: THE GREATNESS OF HUMILITY

You will not come out of the bottom of the cliff unless you believe in yourself and you will not stay at the top of the mountain unless you control your ego. Remember, on the road to success you need to be big, but you must also be small; big for overcoming your fears, small to not be tempted by the glory. In the 2019 Australia Open, multi-champion Roger Federer who not only has countless titles, but who is also recognized as one of the living legends of world tennis, had no qualms to abide by an order that prevented him from entering in the locker rooms, since he did not carry his accreditation at that time. So, Federer waited patiently for a few minutes until his entry pass was brought. Why didn’t this champion presume his fame and made some kind of scandal with the security guard? Because the real successful people know that each individual carries out an immense valuable work, regardless of their social status.

Underestimating your qualities imprisons your greatness, and overestimate your qualities poisons your greatness. Then, how to achieve balance? To grow in any area of life you must be both, the first one and the last one to believe in yourself, so that the bitter "cannot" of others, becomes the sweet taste of your own "yes I can.” This means that to reduce and control the harmful effect of "internal and external perceptions,” you must empower your self-confidence. In fact, when you trust in yourself, in your abilities... you become aware that the rest of the people, like you, are also struggling to believe in themselves in order to live a life with purpose. So, it is impossible to continually improve if there is no a positive self-image; However, it is about promoting the self-leadership, not to inflate the "egocentric self.”

By the way, ego is as a poisonous snake waiting for the opportune moment to inject the toxin, while you look for praise or the gratification of others, only increase the risk of being bitten by egocentrism. Once its venom enters our emotional, fear of disapproval begins to swell, the heart rate increases as our work is labeled as "impressive,” "unique" or "perfect"; finally, when praise goes up to our head, social recognition fever is so high that it prevents us from enjoying "the true sweetness of success"... actually, in this state where the senses are intoxicated by the presumed ego, humility becomes so blurred that it is impossible to recognize it.

Therefore, rather than turning success into a deadly experience, transform it into an opportunity for spiritual connection with yourself and with the world. Everything you've achieved is due to your work, not to your superiority as a person against the others. As out setting your talent, you encourage others to continue focusing on the process of "mountain climbing"; with confidence, they look up and realize that it is possible get to where you are. For that reason, your function from the top, is to lean to reach out your hand to whom strives to reach there. Do not think that the top was made just for you, or what value would perhaps your victory have if you do not have with whom to celebrate it? Hence, being humble is not synonymous with reverse, on the contrary, it is synonymous with growth. Have the humility to recognize that, in this never-ending learning journey, you play two crucial roles; namely, the master’s one to teach the one who does not know, and the apprentice’s one to learn what is unknown for you.

ÁNGELA LÓPEZ, Author.

Spanish Translation