The Humble and the Scared, Part 2

(Read “The Humble and the Scared, Part 1”)

“The antidote to seriousness is playfulness.”

-Edwin Friedman

The scared are often very serious. Their fear makes them worry about who’s right and who’s wrong. The seriousness of the scared messes with their memory and makes them forget that life is for joy and should be fun. The humble are full of laughter. They can be serious when necessary, but it’s usually not necessary. They know that they don’t know, so they hold most things lightly. For whatever mysterious reason holding things lightly often results in a person getting tickled, thus gentle laughter is a response you’ll often hear from the humble when you bring them something negative or if you try to start trouble with them, or try to gossip with them. They’ll laugh then they’ll often say, “Hmmm, isn’t that something.” Or “Well, that happens.” Or, “I don’t know.” Or, “You know, I did that once too.” Then they’ll usually smile and say something like, “How can I be helpful to you?” In that way the humble live into a vocation of service. The scared want to correct, reform, and “save” whoever’s right in front of them. The humble want to help and love whoever’s right in front of them.