Sunday, January 25, 2009

How do you know if you have humility?

As you know, I had my shoulder surgery on the 15th, about 10 days ago and I am doing fine. I understand that I came out of anesthesia waving Hi to everyone and laughing..................,yeay for Dr. Arnie Graff!!!
Tara will help me add pictures in a couple days, but for tonight I have something on my mind. The last year I feel has truly humbled me. Recently, I felt annoyed at a large bulky sling on my right arm and hand and suddenly realized I am not humble at all. I am a spoiled brat.
I was irritable at my precious family.
So. how do I know when I have truly become HUMBLE? I thought I was doing so good, so if you THINK you are doing good, does that mean you are really not humble at all.? I have SO MUCH to be grateful for. Especially now, this arm thing is temporary and not life threatening, My last lab report looked very good, and I am feeling less frightened all the time about the future. My family has been awesome and helpful and I feel VERY loved. So just for this blog entry, I am asking for some advice....spiritual advice..... how can I become humble and stay that way and know it at the same time? Is it possible?
By the way, I did have about 48 hrs of memory loss and extreme pain right after surgery, that may have started my irritability,but this is the very thing I want to overcome, as Joseph B. Wirthlin said recently, "Come what may, and Love it" ................Help me, I love you all 4-ever, Karen

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is very interesting Karen, as Daryl and I have SO often talked about the same thing. Just Saturday night we were discussing our latest humiliations and wondering how much more we have to go through. I reminded Daryl that if we refuse to humble ourselves then God will continue to "compel" us to be humble. I would tend to agree with what you said that if we think we are doing good with humility, we probably aren't. We were also talking about the Apostle Paul in Phillipians where he said, "I can do all things through Christ, WHICH strengtheneth me." It really made me wonder about the word "which" and why it was worded that way instead of saying "who" or "whom". The two verses that come before this one shed light on Paul's state of mind at the time. Please go read Phillipians 4:11-13. Even start earlier in the chapter for some real enlightenment. Hope this wasn't too long for a blog.

p.s. Are you supposed to be typing?

Kylen and Adrienne said...

Tough question. I liked Shannon's comment, it made me think of scriptures that say things like "I don't boast of myself, but I rejoice in Christ." If we are constantly giving credit to Christ for helping us be where we are, I think we are less prideful and more humble. If we are outwardly grateful to the Lord for our successes more than ourselves, it's easier to be humble because the focus is on Christ. Hope that makes sense. Thanks for bringing this up for me to ponder so I can work on my own humility :) It was so great and fun seeing you last weekend!!

Tasha said...

You are still my Young Woman's leader to me. Some of my drive and inspiration come from those few years with the ward. I want you to know I love you and hope all goes well. My mom is doing well. It is kind of weird to see her with hair now. I thought she was amazingly beautiful with no hair. She pulled it off! Our prayers are with you.

Krystal Trapnell said...

I also believe gratitude helps immensely. When I focus on the things that I have, instead of worrying about what I don't have, I feel my heart is much softer. I have more patience dealing with my kids when I appreciate them more, etc. Love you mom!

Anonymous said...

Hi Karen,
I'm glad to know the surgery's over, and you're recovering well from it.
I had a couple of thoughts I'd like to throw out there about humility too.
First of all, just because you got irritable doesn't mean you're proud! It just means you're irritable! We all have bad days and hard times when we react out of sheer frustration.
Second, just because you think you're on track with humility doesn't mean you aren't! I think it's healthy to perform checks and balances on ourselves on a regular basis. For example, suppose someone unfairly criticizes you in public and you hold your composure and do not get defensive (or offensive) but turn the other cheek instead. I think it's more than appropriate to think to yourself:"I'm grateful I acted in great humility." We don't necessarily need to announce that we are a humble person because of that one incident, but we can certainly be aware that a particular act showed great humility. (Maybe it's like charity in a way.....we know from the scriptures we can never EARN charity because it's a gift from God, but we can certainly devote our lives to doing charitable things so that God is more apt to bless us with it). And finally, If we keep wondering and worrying where we stand with God in any aspect of the Gospel--it can only be for our betterment. The fact that you are constantly evaluating your humility (or any other attribute) says that in your heart you want it very much. I think that counts for the very most.
Well, those are my thoughts on humility. Hang in there. We all think you're awesome, and these discussions are good for all of us.
Love, Monique