When I was younger, I used to look down when I walked. Adults thought my low self-esteem was the reason I kept my head down. That I was afraid to make eye contact because I thought so little of myself.
I did have low self-esteem. But that wasn’t the reason I was looking down.
I looked down because I was watching where my feet hit the sidewalk, being cautious that I did not step on anything small crossing my path. I would scan the sidewalk in front of me, stepping left to right to avoid crushing a busy ant, a slow moving millipede, a grasshopper who somehow found himself on the concrete.
I looked down, not because I thought so little of myself, but because I thought of those smaller than me. I wasn’t thinking of how others might be concerned with this behavior. I was thinking of how, if I didn’t pay attention, my actions could affect those around me.
So, sometimes, it’s ok to look down.