The Art of the Humblebrag

“Nothing is more deceitful than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an indirect boast.” – Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

Over 220 years ago, when Jane Austin wrote Pride and Prejudice, she was already warning us about the humblebrag.

In case you are unfamiliar with the term, a humblebrag is when you want to boast about something, but pretend to be modest about it. A humblebrag would be something like this: “Ugh! Even wearing no makeup and with my hair in a ponytail, guys just keep hitting on me. So annoying!” Or this: ” Why am I always given the most demanding, prestigious projects to work on?”

If bragging makes people dislike you, humblebragging makes them dislike you even more. We can spot false modesty a mile away.

True humility is vastly different from the fake kind. True humility reflects great self-confidence; false humility just the opposite. We humblebrag because we recognize the fact that no one likes a show-off, but we still feel the need to indulge in self-promotion.

When we humblebrag, we ostensibly confide in others about our weaknesses or problems. In reality, what we are doing is drawing attention to one of our positive attributes.

When we cultivate true humility, we appreciate our own value and the value of others. We honestly recognize our strengths and weaknesses and acknowledge our limitations. Humility forces us to admit that we are fallible human beings; it forces us to appreciate our true worth.

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.” Philippians 2:3

I am sorry to have to cut this post short. I am worn out from responding to the many comments I received on my last post.  😉

 

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