Choosing Nobility in Daily Life

Everyone longs to accomplish something meaningful. Yet most of life is filled with small, everyday tasks that can seem insignificant. Perhaps the real measure is not the task itself, but the spirit with which we approach it. Helen Keller expressed this beautifully:

“I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.”

Even the smallest actions, when carried out with grace and sincerity, can remind us of our true purpose. The Bahá’í writings affirm this noble identity:

“Noble have I created thee, yet thou hast abased thyself. Rise then unto that for which thou wast created.”

The Challenge of Criticism

It is easy to fall into the habit of criticising others. Yet Abraham Lincoln offered wise counsel:

“We should be too big to take offense and too noble to give it.”

Living nobly is easier when we have role models whose actions embody higher ideals. As ‘Abdu’l-Bahá observed:

“… Spiritual philosophers … ever express their high and noble thoughts in actions.”

Without such examples, we risk sinking to the “lowest common norm.” But leadership teacher John C. Maxwell reminded us that deep within, everyone longs to rise higher:

“Every person has a longing to be significant; to make a contribution; to be a part of something noble and purposeful.”

Choosing a Noble Goal

Noble living requires both effort and intention. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá encouraged:

“… make ye a mighty effort, and choose for yourselves a noble goal.”

Once chosen, the challenge is to remain faithful to that goal, remembering who we truly are. True friends help us in this journey. George Bernard Shaw wrote:

“The only service a friend can really render is to keep up your courage by holding up to you a mirror in which you can see a noble image of yourself.”

Shoghi Effendi explained that the best guidance comes not through words but through the power of example:

“… if the friends become embodiments of virtue and good character, words and arguments will be superfluous.”

True Nobility

Too often we compare ourselves with others, taking pride in their shortcomings. Ernest Hemingway reminded us:

“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow men. True nobility lies in being superior to your former self.”

This daily decision—to be better than we were yesterday—is the true path of progress. And progress finds its highest expression in service to others. Khalil Gibran wrote:

“Safeguarding the rights of others is the most noble and beautiful end of a human being.”

‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave this vision of noble service:

“… strive that your actions day by day may be beautiful prayers. Turn towards God, and seek always to do that which is right and noble. Enrich the poor, raise the fallen, comfort the sorrowful, bring healing to the sick, reassure the fearful, rescue the oppressed, bring hope to the hopeless, shelter the destitute!”

Aspiration Versus Ambition

Marcus Aurelius, the Roman emperor, distinguished between ambition and aspiration:

“A noble man compares and estimates himself by an idea which is higher than himself; and a mean man, by one lower than himself. The one produces aspiration; the other ambition, which is the way in which a vulgar man aspires.”

To live nobly, we must set our sights on ideals greater than ourselves. Gary Hamel put it simply:

“A noble purpose inspires sacrifice, stimulates innovation and encourages perseverance.”

Such a purpose often means planting seeds whose fruits we may never see. D. Elton Trueblood observed:

“It takes a noble man to plant a seed for a tree that will someday give shade to people he may never meet.”

Awakening Nobility in Others

At times, we may wonder what difference one life can make in a world bent on selfishness. James Russell Lowell offered reassurance:

“Be noble, and the nobleness that lies in other men, sleeping but never dead, will rise in majesty to meet thine own.”

History provides shining examples. Epictetus, born a slave in Rome, rose to become a renowned Stoic philosopher. He taught:

“To accuse others for one's own misfortunes is a sign of want of education; to accuse oneself shows that one's education has begun; to accuse neither oneself nor others shows that one's education is complete.”

For him, nobility meant mastering one’s judgments and actions so completely that external circumstances and the faults of others no longer held sway.

Labours of Hercules and lessons learned

King Eurystheus set Hercules originally ten monumental tasks to achieve. Despite these being incredibly difficult, King Euythesus ultimately added two extra labours. He claimed Hercules had got help from others to accomplish one task and received payment for another.  In the legend, the king comes across as a petulant, frightened and mean-spirited man while the hero Hercules shines forth as an incredibly brave and heroic figure tackling unimaginable horrors to achieve victory despite the odds. Here, I look at just six of his tasks to see if there are lessons from these that can help us today.

Slaying the Nemean lion

The lion had fur that protected it from all arrows and Heracles, in order to kill the animal, had to lure it into a cave and block its entrance.  There in the darkness at close quarters he was eventually able to club and strangle the lion.  To skin the lion he had to use the animal's own claws as nothing else was powerful enough to cut through.  He was able to use the lion skin as a coat and use its protection in future tasks.

Lesson 1 

Sometimes in order to achieve your objective you must create an environment that suits your particular skills.  The more you accomplish the more informed you become at knowing how and where to make your stand.  

You can take from any conflict or achievement vital tools that will help you in future challenges.  If navigated well, even unexpected developments can help you emerge a stronger and more competent person.

Hydra-nine headed monster

Heracles covered his mouth and nose with a cloth to protect himself from the nine-headed Hydra monster’s poisonous fumes. Heracles discovered that when he successfully cut off one head two more heads grew in its place.  The only way to disarm the monster was to not only cut off the head but also to cauterise the remaining neck with a firebrand.  Heracles was assisted in this task by his nephew and although he succeeded Eurystheus used the fact that Heracles had not acted alone to justify adding an extra task.  By dipping his arrows in the Hydra's poisonous blood he managed to make his weapons much more powerful.

Lesson 2 

At times the environment in which you must work is so toxic you need to protect yourself to survive it.  Such a poisonous atmosphere needs to be recognised to stop it from overpowering you and making you incapable of functioning at all.

Tests often come back at you again and again.  Striking repeatedly and viciously they can even grow stronger and more numerous.  When this happens, it is important to spot the similar source of difficulties and take remedial action to avoid future repetition.   Simple instant removal will not suffice and a longer-acting permanent process needs to be put in place.

You will often need friends or colleagues to help you overcome such situations and it may be necessary to have the humility to accept such help despite any complications their assistance may through up.

The good news is that overcoming such a pernicious situation leaves you with an exceptionally potent remedy for future adversaries.

Capturing the Ceryneian Hind

Because of its sacred nature, Heracles did not want to hurt the hind and so had to be patient in this task.  It took over a year for him to achieve this task.  It is said he used nets to capture it while it slept and when he returned to Eurystheus with the hind he was reluctant to give it to the king who wanted to keep it in his collection of animals at the palace.  Hercules cleverly called for the king to come and get the hind himself and when the king emerged from the palace he let the animal run off freely.

Lesson 3

Destroying something is much easier and faster than keeping a thing alive. However, such wanton destruction has consequences and you need to recognise that some goals are not worth all the anguish and pain they entail.  If at the end of a lot of effort and time you have not injured or damaged something precious take that as a job well done not a failure.

Capturing the Erymanthian Boar

Hercules caught the boar by shouting and chased it from the thicket into deep snow. Eventually, the boar was totally exhausted and Hercules was able to bind it with chains. When he reached king Eurystheus with the boar on his shoulder Hercules threw the boar at his feet and the king was so terrified he hid himself in a bronze vessel to escape danger.

Lesson 4

Humans can outpace almost any other animal on the planet, including even cheetahs, horses, and wolves in an endurance race.  It is your stamina that may make all the difference in many challenging situations.  That ability to persevere will mean even a stronger opponent can be beaten especially when they are pushed into unfamiliar landscapes.

Those in charge of us are sometimes not worthy of the role they choose to play and hide from their responsibilities.

Cleaning the Augean stables in a single day

Hercules's next task was a humiliating one. He was instructed to clean the huge Augean stables, which had over 3000 oxen and had not been cleaned in over three decades.  This would have been an impossible task for one person but Heracles succeeded by cleverly rerouting the rivers Alpheus and Peneus to wash out the filth.

Lesson 5

When dealing with huge quantities of shit and with little time to dig it out you need to be creative.  Sometimes the solution is not getting bad stuff out but putting good stuff in.  Even in our own lives instead of constantly being depressed by all that we dislike in our lives get busy filling it with something good and worthwhile instead. 

Slaying the Stymphalian birds

The Stymphalian birds were man-eating birds with beaks of bronze, sharp metallic feathers they could launch at their victims, and poisonous dung. They had migrated to a marsh in Arcadia to escape a pack of wolves. They swarmed over the countryside, destroying crops, fruit trees, and townspeople.  Hercules could not enter the marsh as he would sink into the soggy ground so he used a rattle to make a loud sound and this drove the birds high into the sky.  He was able to shoot some of them with his poisonous arrows and take them back to the king as proof that he had achieved his mission.

Lesson 6

Even those who are terrifying to us are invariably scared of some other thing.  

When you cannot enter a dangerous area to achieve a difficult objective then start by driving your opponent, through distraction, to a more beneficial zone for you.  Once you have achieved that use the potent skills you have already acquired to eradicate the problem. 

There are many other tasks Hercules undertook and many other lessons to be learned from all of them but I grew weary of my task and decided to stop at the sixth.  Knowing when to stop is another valuable lesson!  The reason Hercules had to undertake all these tasks was because he had killed his wife and children and the deeds were set as a form of atonement.  Surely that itself is the mightiest lesson of all.  Don’t harm those nearest and dearest to you because you end up spending the rest of your life fighting demons and monsters, like yourself!

Lessons from the Bees

There are days that bring a sigh to the heart.  Day followed by day with no respite.  Too many souls feel growing despair within.  At such times it can be hard to remember the joy that will come in the future.  We need to cling to hope,

… that days as sweet as honey may once again return. 

‘Abdu’l-Bahá 

Life sends tests that can crush but perversely that makes good times that follow more joyous.  These highs and lows are both aspects of life’s landscape and give it depth.

Honey doesn't lose its sweetness because it is made by bees that sting. 

Matshona Dhliwayo

But when in the darkest valley of despair, it is hard to gain that perspective that change and recovery are already coming.

This deadly poison shall give way to purest honey, and this sore wound will at last receive a healing balm. 

‘Abdu’l-Bahá

What can help is the kindness and compassion of those near us. 

Kind words are like honey, sweet to the soul and healthy for the body. 

Proverbs 16:24

A degree of humility however is necessary in order to receive the help we sometimes need.

The world is plentiful with honey, but only the humble bee can collect it. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Progress can come at a surprising speed when there is a clear purpose to any day.

The sweetness of life lies in usefulness, like honey deep in the heart of a clover bloom. 

Laura Ingalls Wilder

In a materialistic world, the competition for resources can blind us to what actually uplifts the spirit.

The bee is more honoured than other animals, not because she labours, but because she labours for others. 

Saint John Chrysostom

To look around and feel truly alone is the very worst form of poverty.  

A day without a friend is like a pot without a single drop of honey left inside. 

Winnie The Pooh 

In some ways, this life is about searching, like the bee, for that special flower but the ultimate aim of all such endeavours is love.

Life is the flower for which love is the honey. 

Victor Hugo

 During this search, the watchword is to do no harm, only good.

As a bee without harming the flower ... flies away, collecting only the honey, even so, should the sage wander in the village. 

Buddha

And this doing good has to become second nature, not a task done for reward or trophy.

We ought to do good to others as simply as a horse runs, or a bee makes honey, or a vine bears grapes season after season without thinking of the grapes it has borne. 

Marcus Aurelius 

Finding yourself among the lemmings

Am listening to Guardians of Galaxy sound track.  Don’t know why I like it so much.  There is a lightness about the songs that lifts my heart.  Years ago we all made cassettes of our favourite music and surrounded ourselves with that daydreaming space that they brought.  Then life becomes more serious and we get older and somehow listening to music became something that you do when you put the radio on, or overhear in the background on films.  Incidental and by accident as if an hour of listening to exactly what you wanted was an indulgence too far.  

I also remember playing non stop an American self help tape about making goals and achieving them.  Very assertive and formulaic.  In sure tones you were told that everything in life was possible you just had to have a clear vision of what you wanted, plan the steps to get there and have a clear finishing date for completion.  Reflection was a tool to be used to adjust to set backs and accelerate achievements.  People could and would he pointed out get in your way.  You had to build up momentum to weather such blocks.  Like a sailboat you needed movement to catch the wind and avoid becoming be stilled.  Keeping moving also did not let people cling to you and slow your progress.  Having go getters around you helped your goal attainment, he said.  Learn from the winners, he repeated twice in ringing tones.

What a load of shit!  My conclusion is this guy got things all wrong.  Achieving goals can be the biggest waste of a life.  It can blind you to the only really important thing in your life.  It can mean sacrificing the only  people that matter for some crap you only think you need.  The reason being rich is such a burden is the time you end up spending with other selfish rich assholes.  They can effectively steal from you the precious time that life has given you.  Whether that is time with your kids, your parents, your community or your partner there is simply nothing that compensates for that loss.  Don’t kid yourself that in some mystic future you will be thanked for all the hard work you put in, the houses that you bought, the money that you acquired.  All of it is actually worth less than the black dot in the eye of an ant.  Finding that out can be traumatic.  Especially, when it has been the compass of one’s life.  Instead of looking around you at those on a similar path take a step back and examine the quality of your life and the people in it.  We can discover that we are following ‘lemming like’ a lifestyle that does not make us happy but one we perversely cling to because everyone else is running alongside us doing the same.

There is a certain comfort in knowing we are following a familiar and crowded path.  But ultimately there is a part of you that has a unique sound track that will make you happy in a way no other can.     Find it fast, step back and look around at all the people you see around you daily on streets, at work, shopping.  Recognise the high percentage of them that are truly miserable and make another choice.  Dig up your favourite song tracks and make your soundtrack, a good hour at least, and then just listen.  Listen to where your thoughts go, what reflections bubble up, good or bad.  Allow daydreaming, watching sunsets, admiring nature and even silences into your life.  In the stillness of your own personal place find you.  Remember what makes you tick and smile.  Allow memories to be triggered rather than appetites fed.  Stop coping with what life throws, with the challenges of others and find and claim space for you.  You are so worth it.

PS It is surprising to find that the lemmings throwing themselves off cliffs is rather an urban myth.  Apparently, a 1958 documentary called Wild wilderness by Disney won awards and acclaim showed lemmings diving off cliffs.  It turns out that there is no proof that an assemblage of wild lemmings would actually carry out such mass suicide.  The film makers chased the animals off the cliff to good effect! It did win them an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.  You can watch the original above.