...on being modest!

Dear readers,

with reference to the last blog on deferred success and further encouraging everyone to remain strong and never to yield I want to convey a peculiar essense in this discourse that defines the successul and defies the conceited, a little feature that prevents a personal hamartia from happening while riding on the wave of success, a trait that makes you stay down-to-earth, where you belong: genuine modesty!

You may wonder how I portray success, how I present the ways to it, how I promote perseverance, how I proclaim the strong heart and now all of a sudden decided to write about modesty, for the so often preached confidence seems like a tremendous opposition to modesty; especially when we, once we are successful, let the sweet scent of success get to our head and lean towards conceit. Modesty, however, is a virtue everyone should remain in times of success in order to keep fortune from distorting who you are, from corrupting your character, from poisoning your heart. Be modest, but do not lose your confidence…or maybe the other way around: “Stay confident, but be modest as well.”

Oliver Herford, whom some consider the American Oscar Wilde, once said:  “Modesty is the gentle art of enhancing your charm by pretending not to be aware of it.” Well, isn’t that somewhat funny? What I intend to tell you is that modesty is a great virtue every successful person is ought to follow, ought to live by, because in modesty your real heart of success is presented to your fellow people and everyone else to be around you. Isn’t your success the result of a whole lot of effort you put into it? Isn’t it the just reward for your hard work, the extra mile you were going, the minute you invested more than the one who failed? Is there a need to be conceited? If there is, then you have success only in your head, but do not have it where it’s supposed to be: in your heart!

How many have we heard of that had success get to their heads and that way sealing their nemeses…how many made it to the top and were then destined to fall; you have seen those antiheroes, you have heard of their fates, their doomed destinies, and their downfall...so be aware! Your successful drive remains as long as you handle it with care, as long as you are appreciative, as long as you stay focused—make use of it as long as you have it, for it may not always be there. The Swiss philosopher Henri-Frédéric Amiel phrased it perfectly: “Work while you have the light. You are responsible for the talent that has been entrusted to you.” Make use of it as long as you have it, while there is still light. And it is you to make something out of it, and it is you who will, that I am sure of. Keep the drive alive, but withstand all sorts of conceit, because not only will you ruin your character traits, your reputation, you will further ruin all you have been building up on your way to success, you will tear down all the pillars you erected through hard work. You don’t want that to happen? Then remain modest and refrain from conceit; if you are successful in your heart, you will be modest, because then you will see your success as the just reward for all you have been doing to achieve it, no need to brag about it or to lose grip, the reward for hard work to be proud of, to enjoy with modesty...you are the one responsible for the talent and the success that comes with it...that has been entrusted to noone...but one person: you!