Intellectual Humility

It has been a few weeks since I posted anything and I wasn't really sure what I wanted to cover in this post until a few days ago.  I had the opportunity to participate in two separate interviews last week. 

One was with Ella Curry and her Ban Radio show.  I was one of her guest on her Mind Your Business Crown holders master class.  I talked about my Connecting the Dots Life Coaching business.  During the interview I touched on several concepts that were covered during my training last year but there was one in particular that stood out as something that more people need to be aware of in our current climate.  I'm not a political person so this isn't really about politics at all.  It is about how hard it is getting for me to remain positive about things with so much negativity everywhere. At times I barely recognize this world that I am living in.  So much greed and hate.  Where is the love and compassion?  I choose this quote and photo because it is one of my favorites and it is also very true.  How many times have you struggled to remember exactly what someone said to you but you could remember how it made you feel?

I decided to talk about Intellectual Humility.  The idea or concept of Intellectual Humility has been around for quite some time, however in my life coaching training manual it quotes Dr. Elizabeth Mancuso, Professor of Psychology at Pepperdine University, who talks about being humble about your ideas, beliefs and thoughts.  She referred to it as Intellectual Humility.

She goes on to explain that "Intellectual Humility has four particular behaviors and attitudes:

1) Not being overconfident about your knowledge and beliefs,

2) Being open to adjusting and revising your knowledge and beliefs when necessary,

3) Being respectful of the view points of others, and

4) Not being defensive when others have a different perspective than yours."

I understand that not everyone thinks the same way that I do and I believe that I allow others to express their views freely without arguing or making them feel that their opinions do not matter.  Everyone is a bit on edge right now and I get it.  We have all been isolated in our homes for the last two months.  Frustrations and emotions are running high.  People want OUT of their houses, they want things to be the way they were.  Some consider many things that we are being asked to do unfair.  Throw into the mix the tense political climate due to the upcoming election and you have the perfect storm for conflict. 

I have lived long enough to know that there will always be conflict and people will disagree.  I guess what I am trying to say is that things appear to be getting worse.  People are no longer able to just agree to disagree and leave it at that.  Why does someone have to be wrong and the other person is right?  What happened to the golden rule?  Treat others as you would like to be treated?

Imagine how things could be if we practiced a little more intellectual humility?  Will this solve all the problems of the world?  Absolutely not BUT it certainly couldn't hurt.  The respect that you want from others starts with you giving it to others, or better yet respecting yourself first. 

Google Intellectual Humility and  you will find a lot of information and quotes from different people about what it means.  In a nutshell it is about the four items mentioned above and maybe interacting with one another with a little more compassion and love.   

The second interview I had last week was with The Voice 17104 Harrisburg PA, The Nathaniel Gadsden.  The show was centered around international travel and cross-cultural relationships.  I was able to share information about my travel and living experiences in the Dominican Republic.  I thoroughly enjoyed participating in the show and sharing information about my experiences which are also covered in my memoir titled Passport Wife.  You can check out all of my books here on my website www.AuthorTerriD.com

My husband is also on lock down in the Dominican Republic and things have been closed so as of now there is not an update on his visa but we are both remaining prayerful that once things open up again the process will continue and he will be able to join me here in the United States. Until then this is how we will be together.