In Latin, humilitas translates to “humbleness,” “lowness,” or “insignificance”. It is the root word for our modern English term “humility”. The word is most deeply rooted in the Latin humus, which literally means “earth” or “soil”. Groundedness: Because of its connection to humus (earth), the word originally denoted being “down to earth”. In both ancient and modern contexts, it reflects having a realistic view of oneself without grandiosity or ego. Certainly we all have our own conception of what it means to be “humble.” For example our forefather Benjamin Franklin perfectly described the impossibility of mastering humility in his famous Autobiography. He noted that pride is incredibly stubborn, concluding: “Even if I could conceive that I had completely overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility.” Franklin struggled with pride throughout his life, famously confessing that his youthful intellectual confidence often made him appear arrogant. Because of this, he added Humility as the 13th virtue on his famous list of self-improvement goals, defining it simply as the desire to “Imitate Jesus and Socrates”. Benjamin Franklin was a consummate polymath, defined by his insatiable curiosity, pragmatism, and civic-mindedness. As a Founding Father, inventor, writer, and diplomat, his life was characterized by ambition, self-improvement, and an enduring drive to improve the human condition. Would it not be wonderful if developing humility became a principal goal of all of us in a fast paced world where overnight someone can become a sensation! On our screens we are constantly bombarded by apparent instant success financially, socially, weight loss, beauty, intelligence, etc., which are all valuable to some degree, but end up getting us to compare ourselves to others excessively. We all have our inherent talents and abilities. If we use the definition of humility as being “down to earth”, and side step being consumed with comparing ourselves to others, and developing our own authentic self, then perhaps we can create our own success stories. Searching ‘screen time’ for Americans the average for younger generations is scary at 12 hours or more daily. This is not going to change anytime soon, but if “groundedness” and “down to earth” became popularized, and it became understood that the digital world blows people out of proportion, then perhaps by having a few physical friends, other than a thousand digital contacts, individuals may become more psychologically healthy…