A couple of weeks ago, a young man in his thirties, jumped to his death from a 45-story Manhattan office building. He lost his job from Solomon Brothers and was out of work a whole year.

He had a day pass to a spa on the roof of the building that also houses other finance giants like Credit Suisse. Off he went, following the only solution he felt at the moment, would assuage his pain. How ironic that he chose a spa as life’s exit door.

How very sad this is to me as a job search assistant in a non profit employment and training agency. This gentleman could have had access to a number of support clubs for camaraderie, free debt counseling and consolidation and so much more, including a National Emergency Grant up to $12,500. for displaced financial workers, to upgrade and augment job skills for his field or acquire new ones for career change…

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That may sound like an odd and perhaps offensive question to ask now, of all times, when you’re plagued with unpaid bills, holiday presents to buy—and no money to pay for any of it.

But we serve ourselves and others well, despite all the woe, to examine the subject of humility. It’s quite natural to be ho hum and carefree—oblivious to chaos—when we’re one of the “elite” to hold a job, especially one with a high-level professional title and mucho buckaroos. Untouched and unscathed by the saturated news reports of millions of people out of work, we go about our business while others turn down the heat in their apartment that does not include utilities in the rent and depend on friends for dinner invitations.

What’s being humble got to do with it? The dictionary defines humility as a modest opinion or estimate of one’s importance and status. Keeping oneself in perspective in relation to the world. The opposite of proud. The companion of respect and courtesy.

The saints of historical and religious culture say that being humble is not letting you be affected by praise or criticism. As Mother Teresa, speaking about herself once said, nothing can then touch us because, “You know what you are.”

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