Jada Cheth once said be humble or karma will humble you. Couldn’t agree more with this statement. The law of humility asserts that one must accept something in order to change it. Therefore, it goes without mention that failure to acknowledge a shortcoming inhibits growth, nips progress in the bud and nudges an individual to unwittingly have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. Karma is the force generated by a person’s actions and the law of humility is one of the subset laws of karma. If one has a negative habit which can potentially attract negative karma like a moth to a flame, then it follows suit that the law of humility will play a pivotal role in effecting change which could potentially turn things around and rescue one from the jaws of a negative karma blowback.
Pride and ego often times gets in the way of meaningful change. Therefore, in order to overcome the insurmountable challenge posed by the duo, one might have to cut the Gordian knot. If you hit rock bottom and people catch a glimpse of you walking into a rehab facility with your belongings what’s the worst thing that can happen? Doing so entails great humility but will bear fruits in the final analysis provided no coercion is involved.
Spent what seemed like a lifetime flipping through the pages of life in order to find a personal experience that best espouses the law. For reasons best known to the almighty, pride and ego are the key words that kept popping up in my head. Absence of it is what embodies humility. Therefore, in as much as pride can catapult one to the highest echelons of power, it can drag one to the bottomless pit of despair when it comes to forging partnerships in human relations. A high handed approach in marriage will not have a happy ending neither will it be sustainable in a business partnership. Only works well in instances where leadership is required and there is little to no room for decision making.
Several moons ago, reluctance to fix the car hood owing to financial constraints almost turned tragic when it flipped open as I was cruising down the highway. As I enjoyed the summer breeze, windows down, blaring music and then at the worst opportune moment when I had just switched to the speeding lane, the hood hit the windscreen and remained up essentially blocking my view of the road ahead. Unfortunately, there was no shoulder lane hence I had to figure out a way of getting off the road. In a scene akin to a movie one, I looked out through the window, indicated, flailed my arms out to illustrate the level of despair and alert other motorists that something was definitely literally up. I made it out of the road to safety. To date I don’t recall how quickly the music volume was muzzled in the midst of it all.
As fate would have it, I happened to have a rope in the car which I had used the day before. It was put to good use and came to my rescue in the hour of need. I tied the hood down and slowly made my way to the nearest auto shop. Every now and then the breeze posed a threat but I made it nonetheless. Getting a traffic ticket for under speeding would not have been a farfetched occurrence at that point in time. In as much as I had accepted that the car had an issue that needed to be changed, financial limitations barred me and the issue morphed into a bigger one that cost even more than I had intended to spend. The anecdote has a change element but lacks a karma component hence does not entirely fit the bill as a viable example much as the next one does. Kindly let’s flip to the next page shall we?
When I was in college, I spent countless hours of my free time glued to the screen catching up on news happenings around the world. Little did I know the negative impact it had on my vision acuity. Over time, I moved closer to the set to catch a better glimpse and squinted more. Within no time, I developed migraines and never once did I have an inkling that there was an interconnection between the two activities. Negative news negatively impacts your energy, changes your outlook and will more than likely put you in a foul mood more often than not. This is precisely what transpired. However, I exercised great restraint not to react during the low moments. It is during such times that one is in a slippery slope whereby one can easily engage in negativity that can attract negative karma.
A friend once paid me a visit and noted my struggle. He pointed out that I needed to have it checked out. However, the idea of wearing glasses wasn’t the least appealing. Pride would not allow me to wear one, definitely not at a young age. In addition, I did not want to contend with the idea of being called all sorts of names such as was the case back home. Four eyed being the most popular name which at the time seemed offensive and borderline rude. Didn’t give his idea much thought until one day when I passed by the mall on my way home from work. Something nudged me towards the eye glasses store. I tried out one piece and I was blown away. The level of details I could see was impressive.
After trying out the glasses, I did not need further convincing and I made a conscious decision to get one. In fact, besides the cost implication my biggest concern was how soon can I get it. An hour became too long of a wait. As I drove home, I took the long scenic route and was baffled that I saw things I had never seen before. All along it appeared as if I was driving on autopilot and only caught a glimpse of what was necessary to get me home or maybe I had memorized the way. Road signs and street names were clearly visible. For once I got to know the name of the street I used regularly. That’s how bad it was. Boy was I glad to have acknowledged the problem, accepted to change the situation that was triggered by a negative habit that would have attracted negative karma in one way or the other. Even though the problem was solved, I reduced screen time and took to cycling whereby I spent countless hours on the trail thereafter. Acquired a more positive habit. In closing, D.L Moody best sums it when he said be humble or you’ll stumble.
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