Wanderers, as you journey you may feel like the focus is on you. Your focus specifically. You constantly are working towards introspection, finding out where you are going, and wondering how and if you will survive this. It can go to your head and start to feel selfish. I urge you to recall that this journey is one of self care and exploring yourself, but monitor your humility. Many people will express envy or lack of understanding. They will ask questions. You will have moments where it will feel as if you are some mysterious hero to people. That is hard to comprehend and not let it get three best if you.

As you are learning self care and the things that come with it, also practice humility. This is a difficult topic. How do we practice humility? Part of the journey is discovering how to be humble without telling people you are humble. That makes you seem rather not so.

You’re in luck, I work diligently each day to practice humility, but am not yet to the point where I am done talking about it. I had a friend say that humility is knowing where you fit in life. It is about being the right size. How do you feel about your position in life? Do you have too much? Yes there is such a thing. Or do you have too little? Have you considered that you have exactly what you need?

When I think about those questions I also ask myself, am I the victim bringing attention or am I attempting to be everyone’s hero? I have been at both extremes in life. Another acquaintance said that “humble”stand for Having Understanding Maintaining Balance Losing Ego.

Humility leads to an awareness of self and the world around you. At the point that you find and practice humility it is found that gratitude begins when a sense of self entitlement ends.

I struggle in life to not feel that I am better than others. In the past I have felt glorified and justified befriending  those whom others find too annoying to deal with. I used to strive to be part of the “cool” crowd, instead of the queen of “losers”. I feel better than others at the same moment that I am telling them I am no different. This is how I practiced humility in the past. The reality is that I am no better than anyone. I am different, individual, and special. These same words describe every person on this planet.

I think I can lead these social outliers who confide in me back in to society and make them cool. All the while I don’t want to conform to “society”. As I have traveled this summer I have understood the flaws in the way I looked at people and the world. How blind I was in making my humility a requirement of being a hero.

I’m learning it’s important to be the right size in my life. I am not the queen of anything, not the genius in the room, and I am also not the loser no one wants to be around. I am me, I fit in my life, and that is enough.

Signing off Cedar Rapids, IA