Humility

Being humble doesn't mean having low self esteem.

In psychology, self-esteem reflects a person's overall self-appraisal of their own worth. Self-esteem encompasses both beliefs and emotions. Psychologists usually regard self-esteem as an enduring personality characteristic though normal, short-term variations occur.

People with poor self-esteem often rely on how they are doing in the present to determine how they feel about themselves. They need positive external experiences to counteract the negative feelings and thoughts that constantly plague them. Even then, the good feeling can be temporary.

Low self-esteem can have devastating consequences:

• It can create anxiety, stress, loneliness and increased likelihood for depression.
• It can cause problems with friendships and relationships.
• It can seriously impair academic and job performance.
• It can lead to underachievement and increased vulnerability to drug and alcohol abuse.
• Worst of all, these negative consequences themselves reinforce the negative self-image and can take a person into a downward spiral of lower and lower self-esteem and increasingly non-productive or even actively self-destructive behavior.

Being humble is generally being unpretentious and modest; A humble person is someone who does not think that he or she is better or more important than others. Humility is derived from the Latin word "humilis", which means low, humble, from earth.

Having excessive self-esteem is not desirable. Ongoing and overly social concern over oneself leads either low self esteem or even narcissism/egosim. Humility de-emphasizes the self and leads to a more socially acceptable balance in the personal self-esteem.

Having a healthy self-esteem is based on our ability to assess ourselves accurately (know ourselves) and still be able to accept and to value ourselves unconditionally. This means being able to realistically acknowledge our strengths and limitations (which is part of being human) and at the same time accepting ourselves as worthy and worthwhile without conditions or reservations.

Being humble is knowing oneself and acknowledging one's limitations and shortcomings.