We all know these people. We have all had encounters with them – the non-hi, non-smiling, I guess I am too busy or too good or too something to acknowledge you.  These are everyday people, at the grocery store, in your neighborhood, in lines at the post office and a restaurant, or at the car pool lane at school.  We don’t meet, we don’t know them, but for a brief second, that person is where you are. When I see my fellow everyday person, my impulse is to smile and when appropriate, say hello. I’ve been taught, that is doesn’t hurt to smile, to say hello, or to reciprocate another’s gesture. I am always baffled when another person doesn’t smile back or doesn’t say hello, when you know they heard you and certainly saw you.

              There are occasions in life when you have a rare chance to meet someone who is not an everyday person, but happens to be doing an everyday task. This past week I met Kurt Warner, the former quarterback of the Arizona Cardinals, Superbowl winner, and a future NFL Hall of Famer. He is not an everyday person. He was doing an everyday thing, like me, each one of us taking the kid to Peter Piper Pizza. I decided to talk to him, thinking in my mind, he could choose not to smile or talk to me. He could  just dismiss me. To him, I am just another pesky fan. But he didn’t brush me off.  I talked with him, complimenting his grace on and off the football field, he said thank you very much, and he ended our conversation with a smile.

              I thought about the word humility after our brief, but pleasant exchange.  Whatever you do the virtue of  humility will elevate you to greater success. I think, myself included, we get so caught up on our individual accomplishments, we forget that there are other people who have achieved the same or greater success in their respective interest, profession, or field.  Ego is definitely hard to relinquish, but try it. For all of us, I believe humility is easy to achieve – say that hello, smile, give a compliment, and please acknowledge one another. When you are tempted to dismiss humility, think of C.S. Lewis’s quote,”humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.”

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Any lessons of humility you can share? Be humble and share your story. I would love to hear from you.