When you count people, they can become insignificant, like the Velt says: “I'm just a number", i.e. I'm not important, and my true essence and the details about my being are not mentioned. When you get involved in the details of a person, then you are making him important; the more details, the more Chashivus. So when you write your Maalos to give yourself a boost, make “Meforshim” and positive details about yourself, and you'll blossom more and more.
But counting numbers is the opposite. Your: םֶצֶﬠ ְמ ִציאוּת very existence doesn't count; you're just a number. However, the Torah says: שׁאֹר תֶא וּאְשׂ “lift” the “head”. These are two Inyanei Chashivus. "Lifting" means going upwards, and the “head” is the highest and most important part of the body. םָת˄ְגְּלֻגְל a “skull” is round, and the roundness plays a major role.
The Ran in Nedarim mentions a Yerushalmi which says that Hashem makes everything round, and only an Adam makes things with 4 or more corners. So counting a: ֻג ְל ֹג ֶל ת “skull” is a symbol of being close to Hashem, since the roundness of the head means being spiritual and never-ending like a circle, and being like Hashem.
Every Yid has to realize that just as he's part of a big Klal, so too he is important as a Yachid (individual). In fact, a person who sees himself as a part of Klal Yisroel is exactly Chashuv for this very reason. And everything he does has much more Chashivus, since he's doing it all with a Tzibbur, and not alone.
A Chashuva Person and Adam Gadol Is an Ish HaKlal Who Cares for Klal Yisroel
In Sefer Melochim we have the story of an Isha “Gedola” (the Shunamis) who kept saying: ˂וֹתְבּ תֶבָשֹׁי יִכֹנָא יִמַּﬠ גי ד ב"מ I'm part of the Rabim! This is exactly why she's an Isha Chashuva. She isn't a selfish egoist; she cares for Klal Yisroel, and that's why she was Zoche to be the: ַבּ ֲﬠ ַל ַא ת ְכ ַס ְנ ָי א host of the greatest Ish HaKlal in the world, Elisha HaNavi, whose very essence was to help Klal Yisroel.
That's why we are: תוֹאְבִצ 'ה army men, because a soldier is automatically Chashuv since he sacrifices his serenity for the Klal. Even if you have thousands of soldiers, they are all Chashuv since they are soldiers. And Malachim are also called: תוֹאָבְצ– no entity is more Chashuv than a Malach, who is in Shamayim and near Hashem.
Knowing your own greatness is of paramount importance; it's not Ga'ava!
Warmth and Humility in Novardok
I know two elder Novardokers who are still active even during their 80’s. Both are very involved in doing constant Pe'ulos against their Ratzon. One of them is an unusual Anav. He refuses to ever sit in the front seat of a car. He always sits in the back, and is M'shamesh (serves) everybody with Z'rizus, despite his age and his being a very dignified person. He is full of warmth and Ahavas Yisroel, and is always asking people for Mechila. It’s his way of talking. Always with a low and warm tone: “I hope you have no Hakpados for this or for that that I may have done to you”.
I knew a person who was quite rebellious as a teen, and he told me that the warmth of this person brought him back. Before Yom Kippur, he can make a trip to ask someone Mechila. Not having Hakpados and being M'vater is a major issue in his life. He told me that if a person doesn’t work on his Middos, then as he gets older, he becomes an “old Baal Ga'ava’nik” worse and worse, Chas V'shalom. He said that a person can carry around Hakpados on people for years and years, Rachmana Litzlan.
To erase a Hakpada, you need to talk to the other person and melt the ice again and again without end. To make telephone calls just to have a conversation with the person you dislike.
