Humility defined means: The quality or condition of being humble. It is the lack of vanity or self-importance. Humble: that which is abject, ignoble, or of poor condition, as we ordinarily say, not worth much. We refer to someone’s dwelling as “humble,” or we say that someone is of “humble” birth. The Latin root of humility, humilis, means lowly, humble. Humility is a state or quality of being humble of mind or spirit; also an absence of pride or self-assertion. It can be a way of being that we choose for ourselves.
Let’s look at humility in a higher and ethical sense. It is that by which a person has a modest estimate of his or her own worth, and submits him/her self to others. Humility is truly the mother of all virtues. It makes us a vessel, a vehicle, an agent instead of ‘the source’ or the principal. It unleashes all other learning, all growth and process. If we are humble then divinity can use us in this way to impart guidance or counsel to others. If someone comes to ask us about the path we are on, then we as a vessel can give the knowledge forward, not as the source of that knowledge but as a guide to the knowledge we hold. Also as a vessel we are the “holder” of our beliefs. Humility allows us to “hold” our beliefs to ourselves while we respect the beliefs of others.
Humility as a continuous condition is rare. Most of us are busy vying for position in life. We compare our talents and accomplishments and possessions to the Joneses. We aspire not to be so much the best that we can be — what we are called to be — as we do to be better than others. And in so doing, at times we are forced to eat humble pie. None of us tolerate others very well who are prideful. We have to face our own limitations and the fact that many others have greater abilities or have achieved greater heights. We may suffer humiliation. Humiliate, from the same root as humility, is what others do to us to lower our pride or dignity, to cause us to seem foolish or contemptible.
Compassion is the deep awareness of the suffering of another joined with the wish to relieve it. If we join compassion with humility then compassion can drive us in to action. Being humble allows us to act in compassion for others. If we meet someone who has a broken spirit, who is in need of a friend, then compassion drives us to listen, to lend guidance, to help him or her mend. “Walking your talk,” means utilizing compassion and humility. One could give lip service to his or her path. I, for example, could say “ I am Wiccan, I believe that I should ‘harm none.’ I believe that I am responsible for all of my own actions and therefore I should act and furthermore think my thoughts carefully.” It is quite an undertaking to actually do these things as opposed to stating them. Walking your talk means that one should let their actions speak in lieu of words. One should not be different in his/her actions and words. “Walk your talk” could also be phrased as “Live your talk.” Using compassion and humility we should attempt to be non-judgmental, to love unconditionally, to honor all that exists. Then our challenge is to express this each moment of the day with all that we encounter.
Express, not preach. Be an example. Let others observe you and gain understanding from that observation. For you can be sure, your behavior and attitude will be noticed and people will begin to be drawn to you because of the example you set. It is useless to “talk” our path if we do not “walk” it. It misleads others at first, into thinking that we are somewhere along our path that we are not. Then when the time comes to put our beliefs into action we will find ourselves at a loss, wondering what to do or how to handle any difficult situation. If we talk our path more than we walk it, and someone happens to need our counsel or just plain needs our help, then we will find that we are in no position spiritually to help that person.
Integrity defined means: the quality of being complete or undivided. Integrity in walking our talk is not always easy to sustain. There are a few things that we can practice to preserve integrity as we walk our talk. When we feel compelled to judge, we should remember humility and compassion. We should try to see both sides of a situation or place ourselves in the shoes of the person before we conclude any judgments. Always be slow to judge. We should be 100% honest. We should first and foremost be honest with ourselves. We should not deny to ourselves that something is not hindering us in walking our talk if it really and truly does. We should be honest with others. To be otherwise is a sacrifice of our integrity. We should “take responsibility for our own actions.” If we make excuses for our actions then we rob ourselves of humility and integrity. We should “live and love” by our values. Our Values make up a huge part of our path. If we do something that goes against our values in the name of convenience or in the name of pleasing another, then again we have sacrificed our integrity. We have become divided. We can preserve our integrity and humbleness by learning to say no. We should say no to that or those who limit our ability to live by our values. Sometimes we may find ourselves in situations that seem to force us to hide our values. But as a friend of mine so eloquently put it, “if we apply the values of our path to our life daily, then we will sooner or later emerge from those situations that limit our spirituality.”
In conclusion, when we “walk our talk,” our life is a message. Our actions are the values that we are broadcasting to others. We should always focus to align our actions with our beliefs, realizing always that even the smallest seemingly unimportant gesture could be sending out a message to others. In walking our talk, we will find happiness and fundamental worth to our personality. We will find a sense of fulfillment at each level or stage of spiritual growth in our lives.
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