I was present when a renowned Chassidic Adam Gadol Zatzal got nervous when R’ Malkiel Kotler Shlita (who was half his age) came to visit him. He anxiously asked his Gabbai how to react. This person was a Gaon and a big Tzaddik. I also heard a tape of a true Rash’kebe’hag, and as he was speaking, he remarked quietly: “I hope I’m making a good impression.”
Although Novardokers specialized in not worrying about these things (and it’s certainly an A-1 M'halech for so many of us) yet, if you aren’t that “Middas HaHish'tavus person” (who doesn’t care if people praise him or criticize him), you can still become an Adam Gadol with plenty of Olam HaBah. People are so worried about being insecure, that this: וּג ָפא (itself) makes them even more insecure. “So I’m not perfect! So what?!”
