My husband likes to ‘joke’ with me that I have very little sense of humor. I don’t find it funny. I find it annoying and I feel angry and say something ridiculous like ‘I’m funny, you just don’t get my sense of humor.’ And he nicely rolls his eyes and says ‘ok hon…its just not your strength, its okay, you are who you are.’ Sigh….I hate that he’s right on this one. I have taken a Character Strengths assessment and have all of my clients take it too. The test ranks your strengths and consistently I am low on humor ;). Its one of those characteristics you WANT so badly to be good at. Invariably, unconsciously I end up polling my friends…’ do you think I’m funny?’… and of course, my good friends say ‘yes! You are smart funny, witty, have a biting sense of humor, etc, etc.’ I’m like ‘see maybe I actually am.’ I want it so bad… so bad.
Humanity. Definition: Humanity is the human race, which includes everyone on Earth. It’s also a word for the qualities that make us human, such as the ability to love and have compassion, be creative, and not be a robot or alien.
What about being humble? Are you a humble person? Do you think, believe in some areas you are elevated above others or better than others? I’d like to think I am a humble person. We all want this quality as well don’t we? We want to believe we are equal with all other human beings or that we are all children of God. We want to be human and relate in a human and very real way with others…this is essentially what connects us…we are vulnerable and genuine, no pretense. I want to walk into a room and feel an equal connection to everyone else there, not that I am special in any way. This is hard to do as we all strive to achieve and be super knowledgeable and even maybe an expert at something. It is a difficult quality to possess, truly. I always think about famous people and how they must have a difficult time cultivating a sense of humility as those around them expect them to be special in some way.
I like to use this word in my daily life and how I think about people and systems and problems. I l believe in taking a ‘birds-eye view’ of things as a way to make my life and my problems more connected to all of humanity…to make the seriousness of my life less serious…to make the challenges I face not so daunting…to feel that I have the support of 7 million people behind me=because my life is connected to everyone else as their lives are connected to mine. I would say we all have a Shared Humanity. This way of thinking makes me feel like I can handle anything and that all will be okay. It also helps me to know that I can help anyone with any problem, that we can come up with solutions together. We are not separate, there is no “I”, but “us”.
The root word for humanity is Humus. Humus is the Latin word for Earth or Soil. The sustaining Earth is the source for all three words.
Humor. Humility. Humanity.
Do I need to have a sense of humility to be able to laugh at myself in order to remind me of our shared humanity? Answer: Yes, yes I do. On any given day I can choose to be humble, laugh at my foibles and missteps and ignorance, and realize that I am deeply human…deeply human. And for me, this gives me a genuine sense of joy. I will remind myself of the three H’s…. it is funny that I strive to be funny, but maybe I can start with laughing at myself more often. To be more humble, so that no one feels ‘less than’ me, ever. And to connect to an already felt sense of connection to all others… to connect to the oneness of life and to use all three to cultivate more happiness, more joy, and more love.
