According to the Catholic Church: Self-esteem that goes beyond limits and places itself above love for God.
- From Warrior of the Light by Paolo Coelho
At first I thought this was excessively harsh. After all, I grew up learning it was important to be proud of myself and to do things that would make others proud of me. Surely, pride couldn't be so bad.
But once I started thinking about times in my life I have been excessively proud, and I was honest about my feelings, I realized that pride is dangerous. It almost always triggers a sense of invincibility and superiority which cause me to close my eyes and ears to advice and warnings. Every time I've reached a level where I was proud of myself, I also found myself at a stand still - a place where I stopped growing because pride created a false ceiling where I felt I had reached a peak and could rest.
There has to be a middle ground between feeling excessive pride and believing you're a failure. But I suppose it's a balance you constantly have to monitor and adjust.
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