"Wilderness Humility Lesson" by Susan Pearl

What have I learned this last week?

I think I have learned a lot.  I heard one gentleman comment that he had learned "humility" from the wilderness.  He said the wilderness taught him humility by showing him that things don't go like you think they will.  He doesn't let something very simple and routine become taken for granted.  People can slip, trip or fall and the wilderness teaches that lesson and it brings about a humble way to see ourselves and others.

I remember visiting with an 88 year old lady and she said the most humbling experience of her life was standing beside a giant redwood tree.  She said it made her wonder how anyone could feel so big, so important and so great while standing beside a redwood.  Even the conversation moved her to tears.

So, somehow, this week I learned that the wilderness shows us humility. I was told once that true humility is knowing our place in accordance to other people and their lives and not to think too much or little of ourselves.  Humility is simply knowing our place like knowing and accepting where our name card would be at a formal dinner in accordance to our relationship with the host or hostess.  We would be almost able to guess where our chair for table placement designation would be located.

There are no formal place cards in the wilderness.  We are all treated the same in nature's wilderness and that is what is so amazing.  The wilderness quickly shows to everyone  the lessons of what really is important and just as important we are shown what is "not" important. By not taking what is important for granted other things will be put in a proper place.  But if ever there is a time when  we do take for granted what is important then we should reevaluate our standards accordingly to what we know to be true.  Because knowing what is important and not taking it for granted is the wilderness humility lesson.