HUMANITY: WHAT IS POWERFUL AND WHAT IS NOT

Humanity as virtue or moral excellence is defined as “a set of strength focused on tending and befriending others”. Humanitarianism is defined as “an ethic of kindness, benevolence, and sympathy extended universally and impartially to all human beings”. It is also described as “the acceptance of human being for plainly just being another human, ignoring and abolishing biased social views, prejudice and racism in the process, if utilized individually as a practiced view point, or mind set”.

The synonyms for humanity are listed as compassion, fraternity, fellow feeling, philanthropy, kindness, consideration, understanding, sympathy, tolerance, etc. The admirable qualities of human beings are mentioned as ability to be humble, selflessness, awareness of themselves, willingness to learn, ability to express happiness for others, having confidence in the face of uncertainty, honesty, unconditional empathy, knowing that they don’t know it all, having a sense of personal style, having unforced gratitude, having respect for other human beings, ability to hold great conversation, not taking stock in appearances, having admiration but not jealousy for those who are capable, having understanding even for those who act out against them.

Our identities as human beings are the results of actions we perform including what we speak which is considered our linguistic actions. Being mindful of our human qualities will allow us to become less critical and judgmental of ourselves and others, have deeper appreciation of who we are, and be less self-centered and more willing to look around and take care of others. In other words, what we think becomes a function of who we are as human beings.

Here is a set of distinctions which point at examples of what is human and powerful: 

1. Making requests for what needs to happen instead of keeping quiet with loads of expectations in our mind.
2. Accepting what we cannot change instead of becoming resigned or resentful.
3. Being mindful of the choices we make and taking responsibility for the consequences.
4. Having a sense of humor and trying to put people at ease.
5. Being open to learning and not pretending to be a “know it all” and arrogant.
6. Making grounded assessments instead of opining and gossiping.
7. Making responsible complaints instead of bitching about everything.
8. Asking questions instead of having ready-made answers for everything.
9. Sharing what we have personally witnessed instead of talking about our own stories.
10. Accepting accountability instead of blaming it on others.
11. Telling the truth instead of denial and sugar coating.
12. Being vulnerable instead of trying to control everything out of fear.

Considering the above, one can conclude that what we say or do can be powerful and a function of who we are as human beings, or it can be totally fear-based and out of dis-empowerment.

#Powerful, #Distinctions