Humility

An elder friend of mine once said "Swordfish there is nothing that you can teach me".

As he is well travelled and and experienced man, it took me a while to find an answer.  Now, I have often heard it said about me (and from a young age) that I "have an answer for everything", so I do not like to disappoint.  My answer on this occasion was

"Humility".

Humility is a funny thing because most seem to understand it as a manner that an individual conveys.  I have never subscribed to that viewpoint and believe it to be a feeling that one holds.

If an individual does not feel humility then life is adept in bringing it forth by the bucket load.

Anyone who has been seriously ill, or even who has thought that they might be seriously ill can tell you that Mr Humility comes to knock on your door very quickly.  He brings with him a freshly baked pie and a big spoon with which to eat it and strides past you to your table as soon as you open the door.

"It's time to eat", proclaims Mr Humility and eat, you do.  Why, because it is nourishing and healthy and also because it is a fait accomplit.

It is difficult not to be humbled by your dependency on others and upon good fortune but the point about feeling humble is that it awakens you once more to what is real and important.

LED televisions and Blu-Ray Home Cinema systems clearly are important whereas family and friends, errr....well, yes, they are important too.

Joking aside, it is my opinion that the most important things that you have are bonds.  Not the ones in your financial portfolio but the emotional, mental and physical bonds that you have.  Hopefully these are primarily with living things (whether, human, animal or land) and I say that without humour because so many are attached to inanimate trappings of life.

Understanding your relationships with the world around is the key to understanding yourself and what your own nature is.

The following poem was written in relation to the Astrological star sign of Leo which is symbolised by the Sun and by the Lion.  I have always been intrigued by the seemingly paradoxical behave of a lion, which can seem indolently restful but is able to break its inertia at a moment's notice whenever the opportunity arises for the kill.

The Lion and the sun strike me as being both arrogant and humble at the same time.  The sun's brilliance portrays arrogance and yet it is the servant of the solar system.

The following poem was written to describe those things about all thngs leonine.