I believe I was in the Second Grade when I experienced my first “Ego vs. Humility” moment. It occurred during “Field Days” at my elementary school. I was participating in the shuttle race. This race required running across the playground, picking up a chalkboard eraser, racing back to the Start/Finish line, dropping the eraser, running back across the playground, picking up a second eraser, and racing back to the Finish line. Oh, and you were racing against a classmate!
The winner of each race was placed in a “Winner’s Pool”. Once all the students ran, the kids in the “Winner’s Pool” raced again while the others kids went to start the next event. This process continued until an overall “Winner” was decided.
Oh, I remember the event like it happened yesterday. I easily breezed through the many “qualification rounds”. Nobody came “even close” to defeating me. In my mind, I was simply the best shuttle runner ever. I could not lose. And I bragged to everyone within earshot, “That blue first place ribbon is mine, you shouldn’t even bother running! Who’s the champ? I’m the champ! That’s who, not you!”
Until I wasn’t…
The second “Ego vs. Humility” moment I’ll share occurred in 7th Grade at Jack Benny Jr High School in Waukegan, Illinois. I was a participant in the annual Spelling Bee for 7th & 8th grade students. As I had won my home room spelling contest, I was one of the 15 7th graders and 15 8th graders who made it to the preliminary contest leading up to the Bee. I simply had to be one of the school’s best 15 spellers to make it into the Final. So, that’s where I set my goal.
As the preliminary rounds came and went, the number of participants dwindled until there were just 15 of us. I had made the Finals. No biggie. No doubt about it. I “knew” I would. I thought to myself, “Hey, I can win this thing.” I started telling everyone that would listen that I was going to be the champion. Again, the “Who’s the champ? I’m the champ! That’s who, not you!” rang out.
Until I wasn’t…
The final “Ego vs. Humility” moment I want to share occurred about 17 years ago. I was a Unix Systems Administrator responsible for making “the call” when systems needed to be shut down for repair – whether or not it impacted the business or users. I also was responsible for running & maintaining the scheduling software which executed the nightly “job stream” which generated capacity reports etc. The company was still recovering from the events that occurred on 9/11, so there were lay-offs and downsizing. During that time I had convinced myself I was “the man” by believing “the company simply needed me more than I needed the company.”
Until it didn’t…
There’s a “life lesson” in there, somewhere, right? For me it’s been more like a “life-long learning experience”. Although I may continue to struggle balancing Ego and Humility the remainder of my days on earth, I have discovered an effective method to make both of them work for me, instead of against me…
I practice gratitude every day.
When I awaken each morning I let God know I am thankful for another day on the earth. While I’m preparing for work, I give thanks for 5 events/things that happened the previous day. And so on throughout the day.
I have learned that no matter how good or bad my “situation” happens to be, if I look hard enough, I can always find something for which to be thankful. Gratitude has definitely impacted my life and I’m sure it’ll impact yours.
Practice a little “Gratitude” today!
Dan’s View 
Thanks Dan, I have found that gratitude works on so many issues not just ego vs. humility. I have been keeping a Gratitude Journal everyday for the past year and a half.
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