Walking to class yesterday along the Rakevet, I came upon a group of about 15 preschool children. Their two teachers were sitting about 30 feet apart from another along the converted train tracks. The children were barefoot and were running from one teacher to another. Back and forth, back and forth. These children were all very different, yet one thing unified them; they were all giggling and smiling.
I slowed my pace, and looked at their joyful faces. Just moments before, I had just been thinking about humility, and how difficult it is to find a balance between arrogance and shame, and here, right in front of me, I had a beautiful example of healthy humility.
These children seemed content within themselves, neither seeking adulation nor the need to dominate. They were happy with their own way of making it from one teacher to another; one walked with a blankie and pacifier, others races, and one twirled.
Healthy humility, embraces the beauty of our individuality. It neither inflates nor suppresses. Healthy humility is not so consumed with itself; it simply allows the individual to be. Or, as CS Lewis beautifully explained, “True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.”
Healthy humility gives us a healthy sense of self. It is empowering and freeing, and allows us to express that little child within—to let our hair down, smile with our whole bodies, take off our shoes and twirl, skip, run down the paths of our lives.