Let’s face it, no matter how many commas are in your bank account or how many followers you allegedly have, life has a way of reminding you that you are human.

Stubbed toes. Kidney stones. Horrible people living in your building. Insane family group texts.

No one is immune.

Which is why we need compassion and humility now more than ever…not just as optional virtues, but as survival gear for modern existence, especially in America.

Equate these traits to emotional Spanx. Invisible, occasionally uncomfortable, but holding the whole messy thing together.

Some people struggle to pay rent. Others struggle to remember the name of their third nanny employed to care for their two toddlers.

Both, I would argue, are forms of existential dread. The truth is, behind every polished LinkedIn post and just closed another deal humblebrag, there is probably someone lying awake at 3am wondering if they peaked in 2017.

Compassion is what allows us to recognize that your anxiety and grief isn’t more important than someone else’s. That your success does not cancel out their struggle and that someone cutting you off in traffic might not be a monster, but just a tired dad (men are the biggest offenders on the road) whose toddler threw a Hot Wheels in his cup of coffee and stained his new white button down oxford shirt.

Humility is tricky. Just when you think you’ve mastered it, you’ve failed. It is the one quality you can’t brag about without immediately disqualifying yourself.

Humility isn’t about thinking less of yourself. It is about thinking of yourself less, knowing you are not the main character in everyone else’s movie. Sometimes you’re just “Bystander #2” with spinach in your teeth.

And let’s be honest. The world gives us plenty of reminders to stay humble. The Wi-Fi will crash during your big presentation. Your fancy car will get dinged by a rogue shopping cart. Your toddler will announce loudly in Target that you “don’t wear underpants like the other moms.”

Compassion and humility soften the sharp edges of being alive. They make us kinder partners, more bearable co-workers and less likely to scream at a barista because our drink was too foamy (if that’s your hill to die on, you might need a gummie).

In a world where we are constantly nudged to brand ourselves, hustle harder and perpetually look younger, it is easy to forget that the best thing we can manifest is grace.

Grace for others, grace for ourselves and grace when someone brings green jello to a potluck dinner.

Be kind. Be humble. Listen more than you talk. Say thank you like you mean it. Help someone even if it is inconvenient.

Remember, everyone you meet is fighting a battle you can’t see.

Even the woman who just posted in a Gucci bikini from Bali and commented that the size Small was way too big.

At the end of the day, life will humble us all eventually. The least we can do is meet it with a little softness, kindness and a dry sense of humor.