What keeps you humble?

Getting a little big for my britches.

I was bragging about my immune system recently. “I barely ever get sick anymore. Guess I just have an incredible immune system.” “I even have a little song I sing when I feel something coming on… ‘every little cell in my body is happy, every little cell in my body is well…’¹ and that kicks it.”

Then I got food poisoning. Talk about humbling. That sweet little trip we took to Boulder ended in several not-so-sweet little trips for me to the bathroom, throwing up all night in our hotel room. “This is going to ruin the tour” I whispered to myself as I clutched the toilet bowl, channeling JT himself, in his own darkest moments.

And to be fair, our body’s reaction to food poisoning is exactly what an intact and powerful immune system does. It’s just incredibly humbling to have to stay so close to a bathroom for 48 hours.

I’m likely highlighting a pattern that doesn’t really exist, but it does seem like as soon as I get a little too “big for my britches” I’m humbled in a way. I’m so grateful too, that it’s often a private humbling…until I write publicly about it.

I ate saltines and sipped Sprite for a couple of days, resting and sleeping on and off, my furry nurse staying ever so close to ensure my recovery. And soon, right on schedule, I woke up back to myself.

Not pictured here, is any of the food that may have made me sick, because I deleted all of them as if the pictures themselves could make me sick again.

This wasn’t life-altering, I know some folks live with life-limiting and deeply impacting chronic experiences. I know, and love, people for whom “tours really have been ruined” and they’re doing the holy work of picking pieces back up in the long term.

But this was a little reminder. A reminder that at any time, for any reason, there can be a derailment in our plans. An invitation to remain humble, despite my acknowledgement of my power, impact, or ability. And perhaps most of all, the invitation to see the humbling requirement for rest and recovery when something does derail us.

Have you been humbled lately? Or perhaps you’re getting beautifully big for your britches?

1. This song actually works incredibly well. Sing it to whichever tune you prefer, but I like it when it has a little upswing at the end as if the final note is a surprise. It works because our bodies listen to us.