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/world view. 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 ego as individuals, and as nations, becomes 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 in 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 is 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.