A Good Balance of Confidence and Humility…                                                                                                    

This is a story about three people and their packs. Each had two packs, one carried on the front of their chest and the other on their back. When the first person was asked what was in their packs, they said, “In the sack on my back are all the moments in life when I’ve been successful. I sometimes forget about them because I don’t look at them very often.  In the front sack are all the mistakes I’ve made. Every day I stop, open the front sack, take my mistakes out, examine them, and try to come up with a way I could go back and fix them.” Because this person concentrated more on their mistakes, they really didn’t make much progress in life and lived from a perspective of disappointment and regret.

The second person was asked the same about their packs. They replied, “In the front pack are all the amazing things I have accomplished. I like others to see them, so I frequently take them out to show them off. The sack in the back? I keep all my mistakes hidden there. I don’t want anyone to know about them.” But even with their few accomplishments, this person continued to repeat their mistakes because they never sought to learn from them by seeking help.

When the third person was asked about their packs, they answered, “The pack in front is empty. I start every day with open space, so I have room to collect whatever happens…good or bad. At the end of the day, I dump everything out and go through it. I keep all the positive thoughts I have about people, all the blessings I’ve experienced, all the great things other people have done for me. I give thanks to God for them and then put them in the pack on my back. I then look closely at any of the negative events or interactions I had that day, especially where I may have been at fault. I ask God to help me discern what to keep and learn from. I put only those lessons in the pack on my back. Then good and the bad are blended, so I always have a good balance of gratitude and humility.”

We all carry blessings and burdens, hopes and worries. We all have the potential to shine at something every day. And other days we will stumble towards the finish line and pray we can just live to see another day. These are challenging times in so many ways. Social pressures, unrealistic expectations, and a lack of grace can make us feel like no matter how hard we try, we will always fall short. It gets tougher when we try and separate our strengths and weaknesses instead of realizing that our lives are designed to incorporate both. One gives us confidence, and the other reminds us we don’t know it all.

Kelly Willard wrote a wonderful praise song called “Cares Chorus”, based on 1 Peter 5:7. Her song includes these words: “I cast all my cares upon You. I lay all of my burdens down at your feet. And anytime that I don’t know what to do, I will cast all my cares upon You.”

Consider these ways you can pack just the right amount of confidence and humility: be equally aware of your strengths and weaknesses, listen more than you speak, be willing to admit mistakes, know how to empathize, have a coachable attitude, pray for guidance, ask for help, and give thanks even for simple things…and may grace abound!