BOWING DOWN AND LOWERING YOURSELF TO PEOPLE CAUSES TZAROS
Looking up to people, which we all do, isn’t exactly the healthiest thing. You can easily become uncomfortable and afraid. People habitually look up to each other, and adults can even look up to children (if the children have something over them). This is the opposite of Bitachon; i.e., when you have faith in people instead of Hashem. You “need” them, and “Chanfa” (flatter) them, and admire them inappropriately.
And like R' Yerucham Zatzal says, if you look up to them or bow down to them, then you’ll have to continue doing so, and such a person is heading for all kinds of trouble. Shlomo HaMelech warns about the danger of: צַדִּיק מָט לִּפְנֵי רָשָע (Mishlei 25:26) a Tzadik who cowers before a Rasha. As a result of Yaakov’s bowing down to Eisav, Eisav was Matzliach with having Malchus for eight generations before Klal Yisroel. Being Mach'nia to people is Mamash a K'lala, as the Navi says: אָרוּר הַגֶּבֶּר אֲשֶּר יִּבְטַח בָאָדָם (Yirmiyahu 17:5) Cursed is the Man who has Bitachon in a human, and it is a Chilul Hashem.
We all need to look up to Hashem, and look down at people and stop “worshipping” them. They cannot hurt you or help you, because: אֵין הַתוֹעֶּלֶּת וְהַנֶּזֶּק מִּן הַנִּבְרָא אֶּלָא מִּן הַבוֹרֵא “There can be no benefit or harm from a: נִּבְרָא “created one”, only from the: בוֹרֵא “Creator”. These are the famous words of the Chovos Halvavos.
You may relax and enjoy and respect humans, but people get carried away and lose their Emuna in Hashem. Who cares what people think!
This requires lots of work, and I have to tell people to “farpock” each other, for their own sanity! What’s wrong with “yours truly”? Who says you aren’t a better person? So much “paralysis” Rachmana Litzlan, and fear. Most people spend their lives in a self-imposed jail, and they will never realize their potential.
They so desperately want to be considered nice and accepted, and they are constantly seeking approval from “nobodies” (every human is a nobody compared to Hashem). They confuse basic respect with unwarranted fear and even awe, since the world is loaded with praises about humans, which can sometimes be more of a Chisaron than a Ma'ala.
Beware of Shiflus, which causes all kinds of Tzaros, like self-hating Jews and Anava P'sula (misplaced humility), depression and anxieties. Relax! And appreciate your own greatness; especially where you are superior to others! There are people who every time they meet others, they exercise feelings of inferiority.
Those who work on their Middos make it their business that with every encounter among those who scare them, they make sure to Shteig by playing down the unhealthy Chashivus, and building themselves up. With time and regular practice, they become new people, with Hashem’s help.
