Airplane Humility: Build a Healthier Life by Being Humble

Have you ever had that moment when you feel like nothing can stop you? It lasted several seconds, or some years, and it made you feel like you were the king of the world. Be it based on an achievement, a salary raise, or a personal victory, I bet you've felt and certainly still feel like Superman or Wonder Woman.

It's fine. Who am I to call you Superman? I mean, I'm the one convinced of my own ability to transfer knowledge over words. Yet, believe it or not, I've had moments where I felt like the tiniest ant in this world. And I've recently had this stroke of genius hit me at the airport. As humans, we tend to feel godlike. But we're not, and won't ever be.

Let's see how humility can help us build a healthier environment for ourselves.

WizzAir to Teach Humility the Hard Way

Believe it or not, this may be the first and only time I've ever had fun waiting for a delayed flight. I was heading to the Balkans, and, as usual, we were 170 passengers waiting in a narrow corridor for the plane to arrive an hour later. Now this is quite hilarious. The plane landed, and the flight attendants told us to come in.

There were two queues. One for Priority Passengers, and one for Peasants like me. As everybody started to gather and come to the company's office for basic checks before entering the plane, I started to notice the poor design of WizzAir Priority.

Basically, out of 170 passengers, 120 had opted for Priority.

A random guy stood up and came to the office, ready to fight.

-- Why the hell am I waiting for everyone to onboard although I paid an extra $40 for Priority?

-- Sir, there's actually a higher amount of passengers in Priority than in Regular. Please go back to the end of the queue and wait like everyone.

Duh. That hurts. This guy went from feeling unique and almighty, to feeling belittled and misleaded by the system of the majority. Humility could've helped him avoid this pitfall.

The Power of Humility

There can be humility in absolutely every subtle action of our lives. And the best is, humility has many powerful outcomes you'll rapidly get addicted to.

1. Humility reminds us we can learn from everyone: Instead of making us feel like geniuses who know everything, humility brings us back to our low position where every new piece of knowledge is a gold nugget in itself. This helps us build relationships with people we'd have never approached if we had ever believed they were not worthy of our attention.

2. Humility reminds us we ain't immortal: Instead of making us endanger ourselves and take risks with our body, humility helps us beware of dangers and protect ourselves before it's needed. When we feel as powerful as lions, humility reminds us there are tigers out there that could beat us hard without asking.

3. Humility reminds us we are all equal: It may sound like a peace-and-love quote, but this is true. Regardless of age, religion, color, salary, job, and other factors, we're all humans who share the same abilities. Using a dad-and-mom quote, we all poop the exact same way. And we should thank humility for making us remember this important part of life.

These are three elements that could literally transform your life. From approaching scary strangers to learning from people who don't seem interesting to you, there's room for improvement.

Think of the last time you refused talking to a homeless guy asking for the time it was. So did I, and many times to be honest. But recently, I made a new friend just by swallowing my pride and engaging the conversation. It turned out the guy was just a stranger in my city, and he was all but homeless.
Life is an oyster.

Bottom Line

If you ever feel like you're on top of every single thing in this world, step back and make sure you realize how tiny you are. I'm not saying you're nothing though. I would just like to insist on the fact that, as humans, we should feel humble and grateful for every experience we live. And we should also feel on par with other people, regardless of their apparent worthiness.