I’d like to be able to say, “You can’t be humble till you’re
50 or over.” It’s true. Yet being over 50 and being humbled so many times before
and after 50, I know whatever I say has flaws.So you can’t say, “You can’t be humble till you’re 50 or over.” Yet it’s true. By 50 you know you’ve lied to yourself too many times. By 50 you know you’ve never did the work to make ¾ of
your dreams or plans come true. By 50 you know you’re a sinner and its not just pious
words to say that. By 50 you know you’re failing and one of these days you’re
going to die. Your body tells you so. By 50 you understand what James M. Barrie meant when he said,
“Life is a long lesson in humility.” By 55 – if you’re smart - you have added humor to humility.Not cynicism, please God.Humor, please God. Because if you can’t laugh, you can’t cry over the
mistakes and the failures and all the “might have been’s.” Without humor, you will be a sour old man or woman –
angry at everyone but yourself. With humor, you’ll know it’s you who is responsible and
it’s okay.The rest of the gang has a
long list of failures - as well.They also
have flashes of greatness and goodness –
as well. By 60 you finally realize – experientially – that St. Teresa
of Avila’s words are not a flippant cliché. Her words: “Humility is truth. You have to see that
- admit that – cry at that - and laugh
at that. Translation: at yourself. Enough for now.
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