One hot afternoon on a beach, people noticed a young girl drowning. They quickly rescued her. The little girl was unconscious. An old man from a nearby cottage hurriedly reached for the girl laid down on the seashore. As the old man was about to hold the girl, a furious guy warned the people surrounding the girl to step aside, including the old man.
“I was trained to do CPR. Stay out of this! Let me do it!” the guy exclaimed.
The old man stood up and stepped behind the guy and watched quietly while the latter was performing CPR for the girl.
After almost a minute, the little girl regained consciousness. The people around them felt relieved and began applauding the guy. The old man, who looks very happy, gratefully congratulated the guy as well.
After two hours, however, the guy who saved the girl suddenly felt too much fatigue, experienced difficulty in breathing and became unconscious. A few minutes later, he woke up in an ambulance rushing him to the nearest hospital. Beside him was the old man he saw earlier at the beach now checking his pulse rate. The old man did the CPR on him while he was unconscious. This time he learned that the old man is a doctor.
“Why didn’t you tell me you’re a doctor?” he asked.
The doctor just smiled and answered: “It doesn’t matter to me whether you call me a doctor or not. A precious life is in danger. I became a doctor, not for fame, but to save lives. We had the same goal, and that was to save the girl. Nothing can surpass the feeling that you have just saved another life. There’s a lot of things to be protected other than our ego.”
The teary-eyed man humbly said: “Well, you have just saved two more lives today.”
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Lessons? Being humble means we need to trust other people’s capabilities. Sometimes, we tend to play the know-it-all role in a group. Although, we might be well acquainted with a certain issue, we need to exercise self-restraint. Don’t think as if you are the only one who has the unique idea or the solution to a problem. Because most of the times, we’re not. Not because others beliefs are in contrast with ours, we’d think they are stupid. We need to accept that we are prone to making mistakes.
While we need to believe in ourselves and be confident, nothing can justify the idea that we are superior to others. We are living in a “me first” world. Nowadays, many people want instant gratification and to be on top. We can make a difference if we stay humble. If you’re gentle, meek and humble, people will love you. People will believe in you without forcing them to do so. Always remember that a good leader is also a good follower.
A Bible passage beautifully directed us to be humble: “ In the same way, you younger men, be in subjection to the older men. But all of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the haughty ones, but he gives undeserved kindness to the humble ones. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time.” – 1 Peter 3:5,6 (New World Translation)