The Root of All Virtue
“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.” – Ernest Hemingway
There is a slippery slope that exists between confidence and arrogance.
Make no mistake…if you’re on that ridge, between the slopes, you’re on the right path. You’ve ascended the mountain to the peak of confidence…no easy task.
Once you get there, perhaps you expected it to be an easy walk. Perhaps you didn’t realize that without one foot in front of the other, you may either fall into the valley of arrogance, or slide back down the slope of self doubt.
Who said the path of exceptionalism was an easy one?
Personally, I find myself constantly fighting up that hill. Challenging myself to overcome any self-doubt, to maintain discipline, and to visualize the man I am determined to become. Occasionally, I find myself at the top of the mountain, and then I slide back down.
Sisyphean, you could say.
But there’s one tool that I’ve found to be a great stabilizer. A trait that will help me to gather strength and urgency as I ascend the mountain. And a trait that will help me balance myself, as I walk atop the very peak of that mountain.
HUMILITY.
“Humility, that low, sweet root, from which all heavenly virtues shoot.” – Thomas Moore
Today I aspire to live each day with the confidence that fuels the fire of exceptionalism. And today I aspire to also live with the humility necessary to temper that fire…so that I may better serve others, and become my greatest self.
“It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.” – Saint Augustine
