What Is Pride?

A stranger helping another!

     I’m writing this post in response to a recent comment about pride.  In that comment a gentleman was pointing out what he believed to be “pride” in my response to an unfair grade I received from an instructor.  I responded to his comment with, “pride isn’t an issue and people who know me, know this isn’t the case.”

     All of this got me to thinking about pride and what it means.  It even caused me to be defensive, having to reevaluate my beliefs and whether I was operating from a prideful stance.  I can say with certainty that I am careful not to harbor pride or its cousins “conceit, greed and entitlement.”

     Anyways, the best way for me to define pride is to describe what pride isn’t.  People who live a life governed by pride don’t care about others, they have too much pride to ask how someone else is doing or if they can be of help in some way.  People who are prideful certainly won’t give anything they have to anyone who asks, they have too much pride for that, and believe others should be able to achieve the same things they have, by themselves, with no help.  Prideful people certainly are not going to give an uplifting word to anyone because they are too interested in hearing other people speak highly of them.  And last, prideful people are never going to ask for help, they have too much pride for that and would rather fail or be without than to ask someone for help.

     Basically, pride stems from self-centered, selfish behavior.  I sleep easily at night knowing that each day I actively seek ways to help anyone and everyone I can.  I have so much excess, in so many areas, that keeping it to myself is a crime.  For me, helping others takes the focus off of the negative things that occur in my life.  And here’s the kicker, I have NO INCOME, yet last year I donated over several thousand dollars in cash and resources.  I did it with a glad heart because my blessings are many.  Prideful people can’t see how much they have and therefore don’t give AT ALL because they have too much pride, imagine that!