The Nesivos says that in order for one to be successful in Teshuva one must reach a level of Oyen – nothingness. One has to feel that Hashem is everything and man is nothing.
We can say that when a person thinks much of himself, when he thinks he is great, he uses the word Ani, I am. The word Ani in Hebrew is spelled Alef, Nun, and Yud. The gematria of the letter Nun is 50, the same gematria as the word HeAdam, the man, spelled Hay, Alef, Daled, Mem. When a person thinks of himself as something great he says Ani – putting the Nun – the man – before Hashem – Yud. When a person is striving to do Teshuva and he sees the greatness of Hashem, when he realizes that he is nothing, then he has reached a state of Oyen, spelled Alef, Yud, and Nun, putting Hashem before the man.
