Hubris, entitlement, excess – A running lesson on staying humble
It goes like this. I am running. Feeling great. In the flow. Striding out. Fresh morning air on my face.
This thought or a variation arises, “You are so cool, Christine”, or “You are better than most people who are still in bed/unfit/unhealthy/_____?”
It is usually a glancing thought…subterranean. Not loud.
Then..bang.
I trip. Or slip. Or fall.
Hah!
Got ya!
This happens to me all the time. Instant feedback. One of the many reasons I love running. It keeps me remembering what is really important.
But here is the deal. It is so easy to slip into hubris about our life/success, and worldview. To take things for granted. We complain about so many things that other people simply do not have as a choice. Our sense of entitlement and inflated egos, as individuals and as nations, become so great that only a fall can recalibrate.
We all know this… because we know what it is like to lose the basics of life… electricity during an outage, our health, a loved one.
To start each day in gratitude for the small, constant things is to stay close to what really matters. I can walk pain-free. Run, stand up, take a deep breath of clean air, see a doctor with ease, eat healthy food by choice, vote, call a friend, connect on the internet, buy a coffee.
These things…these small things, really matter.
I watch our corporations, political systems, nations, with our collusion, become inflated with excess, and it is fairly obvious that a recalibration is coming. Just as when I fall while running, the fall hurts, yet it is good. I am better for it. We will be better for the recalibration, and it will hurt.
Or, we could choose a path of greater humility and moderation.
Photo credit: 
Christopher Griner via Compfight
