Too Much Pride

Pride is a double-edged sword.

Too much pride will get you killed.

Too little will get you nowhere.

People with too much pride are arrogant, stubborn, and blind to their flaws.

People with too little pride tend to have low self-esteem, seek to please others to a fault, have difficulty accepting praise, and apologise excessively.

Both are consequential to one’s being.

Both result in a distorted reality of oneself.

You might be someone with too little pride who idolises those with too much pride - probably because they compensate for something you lack.

On the other hand, you might be someone with too much pride, so much so that you can’t see your own ignorance of the world and everything in it.

Being overcome by pride is like being blind.

You can’t see the world beyond your fixed narratives, apart from when someone threatens them.

Should you threaten their pride, they’ll seek to put you down, to put you back in your place, because it’s impossible for you to live in their world and manifest your realised potential.

Too much does the prideful person like the sound of their own voice.

Too little do they listen, let alone seek to listen.

Too little do they understand, let alone seek to understand.

Too little do they not know, let alone consider the possibility that they do not know.

But what is the solution for both the prideful and the unprideful?

The prideful person should seek humility, but it might take some time and convincing to get them there.

The unprideful person should also seek humility, understanding that we’re all a work in progress and that no one is perfect, despite what they might project.

To seek humility is to be self-aware, and to be self-aware is to be grounded in truth.

Too much pride will get you killed because the way you see the world isn’t grounded in truth.

Too little pride will get you nowhere because your version of the world is also distorted; you can’t see yourself for who you really are and the potential you exemplify.

Just as the prideful person can’t see beyond themselves, the unprideful person can see everything but themselves.

In both instances, one must seek to unite the self with the world around them.

In both instances, having the courage to seek truth is the answer.