The Sunshine Report Modesty is a Virtue Jay and Karen share thoughts on the importance and benefits of humility. Have you ever had a moment when you’ve felt immense pride? The feeling of great accomplishment. Perhaps achieving an important victory. And, it made you feel almost invincible? That you were ‘on top of the world?’ Well, hopefully, we’ve all had these kinds of moments at various times in our lives. But they come with an unexpected challenge – or risk? Our sense of ego overwhelms us. We can feel and act in ways where we exude an air of unjustified superiority and alienate those around us. Importantly, these are the times when humility needs to be our watchword. When empathizing, listening to others and keeping our ego ‘in check’ should be the focus of the day. Imagine a moment from many years ago. On the fateful eve of the Allied invasion of Sicily during World War II, Dwight Eisenhower decided to write a letter to his wife describing the emotions of the moment. In the letter he would write, “Everything we could think of has been done, the troops are fit, everybody is doing his best. The answer is in the lap of the gods.” Even as a man of incredible power and ultimately one of the great leaders of the last century, his words demonstrate a certain sense of humility we don’t often see these days. He recognized the enormity of such a moment and in doing so, he also recognized that the success of such an endeavor doesn’t lie with just one man, but so much more that he ultimately could not control. All he could do was to prepare himself, and others, as best he could. And by doing so, the invasion of Sicily, and eventually the liberation of Europe from Nazi rule, was successful. We tend to place a lot of emphasis on personal accomplishments, our appearance, and how we are perceived by others in our culture. This self-aggrandizement unfortunately comes with a cost - humility. It’s a virtue we don’t usually hear much about in public discourse. Why then is it so important? First, let’s start with how we understand humility. In short, humility is a practice in modesty, a recognition of our strengths and of our weaknesses. It’s an acknowledgment, not a judgment, of our own individual value as human beings, that we have both strengths and weaknesses, and that’s ok. I tend to think of humility as the great unifier. This is because whenever I meet or interact with someone who demonstrates humility I feel more at ease, because with humility comes a great respect for oneself and respect for others and their own experiences. The fact of the matter is we all go through life with our own biases and opinions, looking to be accepted, heard, or validated, it’s part of human nature. Sometimes it means that we don’t actively listen, and instead we look for approval or to defend ourselves rather than for what’s right in the moment. As rational beings, it’s oddly irrational. But the ability to do something not because we seek recognition for said act, or because we want to be right, but because it’s the right thing to do is a powerful virtue. If you think about it, humility most often shows up when we serve others. It’s an absence of arrogance or entitlement and it often promotes empathy. It allows us to consider other perspectives, reducing our own bias, creating the foundations for dialogue, understanding, and compromise, something I think we can all agree is lacking in our society. And the great thing is it’s something that all of us have the ability to practice each and every day, just like Ike did even in the most trying of times. So, this week, why not have a little fun? Try practicing some humility in a conscious way in a few situations where you find yourself interacting with others. Then, take stock of how it felt, how you were received and any insights you may have developed. I suspect you’ll find this little experiment to be truly worthwhile. Read The Full Report New Hampshire Granite Read More ‘The Common Man’ - Always Looking out for the Common Man! Read More Positive Profile of the Week: Nicholas Coates This week we are delighted to highlight a successful and visionary leader in one of our state’s up and coming communities, Nicholas Coates. Nik is the Town Manager of Bristol, NH, a small town of less than 3,330 people about 30 minutes north of Concord. While not large in size, this small town, however, has been making some big waves with its progress on broadband, in large part due to Nik’s leadership and tireless advocacy. He has led efforts to bring a 24-mile stretch of fiber optic cable through the town thus bringing top end speeds to customers who never before had access. This is a ‘game changer’ as it allows Bristol to compete in today’s era of ‘work from home’ jobs. This is especially true also has an added, but little-known benefit - it is as fast uploading as it is downloading. This enables those on the network to transmit data as fast as they receive it. Interestingly, Nik’s advocacy for rural broadband access is not limited to the town of Bristol. He sits on the Grafton County Broadband Committee where he is assisting other towns in the surrounding area around Bristol to have the same level of access thus extending the opportunities to even more people. These are the jobs of the future, and in this post-Covid environment, work from home has enticed many people to telecommute full time. In order to do that, we will need more projects like the ones Nik has been championing. Because of his efforts, this small town is now well-positioned to benefit from a growing economy as younger families, tele-commuters, students and virtually everyone in the community can have access to ‘state of the art’ broadband and internet speed. Thank you, Nik, for your innovative leadership. New Hampshire communities are truly fortunate to benefit from your entrepreneurial spirit! Quotes of the Week “Just knowing you don't have the answers is a recipe for humility, openness, acceptance, forgiveness, and an eagerness to learn - and those are all good things.” - Dick Van Dyke Jay Lucas | www.JayLucas.us  ‌ ‌ ‌ Jay Lucas | 7 Portwalk Pl, Portsmouth, NH 03801 Unsubscribe [email protected] Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice Sent by [email protected]