Being With People, And Not Above Them, Makes Us Better

What defines greatness? The power, the money or the person? We live in confused times, consumer societies are reduced to money and what it entails, power. In the most intimate and close circles, altruism and humility are still valued as basic values ​​that form great people. Today more than ever the phrase of the Baron de Montesquieu gains strength “To be really great, you have to be with the people, not above them.”

The problem comes when from a young age we are instilled to be above the other, internalizing stereotypes that make us feel that we are better than others and encouraging competitiveness. The groups we form with our family, with our friends, and with our co-workers are plagued with biases and prejudices.

If a group is very conservative, it will boast of its values ​​and its respect for the rules, discrediting the change or transformation of things. If a group is very innovative, it will boast of keeping pace with new times and evolution, without taking into account the roots and processes that are repeated bearing fruit in the past. To be really great, we have to see individuals as nuanced people, not as stereotyped and inferior groups.

We are happiest when we share

What is the first thing we do when we receive good news? Share it. Think about when you achieved an achievement, such as finishing university, finding a job, living with a partner in life. All those news that turn our hearts are more satisfying if we share it.

When we share, people become more pleased with our lives and more connected to others, keeping our bodies and brains healthy for longer. This has been shown by the Adult Development study, the longest-running research on happiness, which began 76 years ago and continues today at Harvard University.

The study participants answered questionnaires over decades about their family, their work, their life in the community. From research also had access to their records m é doctors, so assessing their health not only from the perception of participants in the study, but using tangible data such as those contained in medical records.

From this study it is extracted that relationships give us energy when we invest in them, when we dedicate time to them, becoming more alive and less exhausting. When we cooperate and do not compete to be above others. On the other hand, although the social tendency is to isolate ourselves, stay at home to watch television or be on social networks, in general, we are happier when we share our time.

Humility: the moral virtue that prevents us from feeling above someone

To share, to give, to relate in an egalitarian and healthy way with others, it is good to work with humility. Humility is that value that opens the key to our inner peace to get closer to personal well-being. The lack of humility of the new generations is surprising and worrying. This is due, in part, to the fact that humility is an undervalued, dormant value, relegated to the side of useless values ​​in competitive societies.

What our society is unaware of, and the men who run it driven by totally opposite values, is that humility makes us great. Humility allows us to control behavioral excesses, leaving a space for the virtues of others to manifest themselves and we can appreciate them. This is the best vaccine to prevent us from ever feeling above someone.

To the arrogant, narcissistic, arrogant and wise by nature, who believe themselves to be great because they interpret that their way of living is what is worth it, they will be able to achieve material power, but their mask will make it difficult for them to continue growing. The gaps generated by not knowing how to recognize our limitations, in order to continue developing ourselves, are not filled with material objects. Although sometimes we perceive mirages that contradict this idea.