My Dose of Humility

I was a jerk the other day. 😫
Not on purpose—not even consciously. But the truth is, I was. And it taught me a powerful lesson, with a huge dose of humility to swallow. 💊

I had a doctor’s appointment at a local hospital. Navigating through the parking areas, I found myself behind a large city bus.🚍 We came to a four-way stop, and the bus driver halted and turned on his flashers🛑. I stopped and waited, assuming it would only be a moment. But as the seconds dragged on, I started to grow restless. 😕

I couldn’t see what was happening in front of the bus. I kept glancing in my mirrors, watching cars stack up behind me. I started to imagine their frustration and felt a creeping pressure to do something—anything. That imagined pressure became real in my body. Even though no one was honking, I felt rushed, responsible, and anxious to make a decision. I was writing a story and making assumptions. My sense of responsibility was overreaching, and I felt pressure to take action.
So, I did.

Impulsively, I pulled into the opposite lane and slowly drove around the bus.
And that’s when I saw him‼️😲

An elderly gentleman was halfway through the crosswalk, moving slowly and cautiously with a walker.
The bus driver had stopped to protect him and allow him the space and time he needed.
And I… I had just tried to maneuver around them both.
My heart sank. I was mortified🤯😵

I stopped immediately, offering an apologetic wave to the man and to the bus driver.
But it was too late. The damage was done. Not physically, thank God. But energetically. Emotionally. And internally.

That moment haunted me the rest of the day and even a little still.

Here’s what I see now:

• I made a decision based on a limited perspective.
• I filled in the blanks with assumptions and false stories.
• I acted out of an imagined sense of urgency and excessive responsibility  that didn’t actually exist.
• I responded to pressure that no one else was placing on me.

And to add to it, I’m sure if I had witnessed this same behavior from another driver, I would’ve immediately reacted, jumped to a conclusion, assigned a negative motive or intent to the driver without offering much grace or mercy.
No one did that to me. The bus driver, the gentleman, nor any of the other drivers added shame to my plate. It was already full enough, but I was able to process through it better without anyone else adding to the heap. As much as I appreciated their tolerance of my poor judgement, I realize I don’t always extend the same consideration to others. Again… humbling.

But here’s the thing about humility—it’s impact is powerful, if we allow it to be.
If we’re willing to learn from it instead of running from it, humility has the power to transform us.
We are human and even when we don’t mean to, we act impulsively, from a limited perspective, based on real and perceived stories, and we aren’t always at our best.

As a coach, I spend a lot of time talking with people about slowing down, staying curious, and not reacting from old patterns. And yet here I was—caught in a moment where I did the exact opposite. And it reminds me that we’re all human. We all get it wrong sometimes. The real work is what we do with those moments afterward.

I needed that dose of humility. It reminded me to pause. To breathe. To check the stories I’m telling myself. And to stay rooted in what I do know, not what I think I know.
No one was hurt, thank God. But I won’t forget that moment. I don’t want to. Because it brought me back to a fundamental truth: we never see the full picture, especially in the heat of the moment. We’re all human and we all make mistakes. Extending patience, grace, and compassion can never hurt.
So, let’s give each other—and ourselves—a little more grace and space.
We’re all just trying to cross the street. 💓🚶‍♀️‍➡️

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Much Love ~

Allyson