Taking Pride in Who You Are

We have been told that pride goes before the fall. We have also been told that pride is not just a sin, but one of the seven deadly sins.

On the flip side, we are given the idea that we should take pride in our work, be proud of our country, of our loved ones, and our accomplishments.

But no matter how hard I looked, I could not find a definitive list of the prides I should or should not have, and which prides I could justifiably have as an American patriot without being told that I would land in the depths of hell for all eternity. Though I did get the impression that I could be proud of the church without it being sinful, whereas having no pride at all might be a strong indication of being on that slippery slope into the fiery depths below.

So what is pride? Is there good pride and bad pride? If so, what is the difference? When I consulted the dictionary the entry for “pride” sent me to “proud”, which traced its etymology back to Old English, from Old French, and finally from Latin. The Old English word was in line with how we use it today, meaning arrogant or guilty of the sin of pride. The Old French word, on the other hand, meant valiant! And its ancient Latin ancestor meant advantageous, or to be of use. That’s quite the journey!

Philosophically, pride was defined by Aristotle as the “crown of virtues” in Nicomachean Ethics.

So how did pride go from something that was bold, wise, and advantageous to our modern version of having or displaying excessive self-esteem? Historians and linguists can speculate, but we may never know with absolute certainty. And just to make things a little harder for them, I’d like to throw my own definition into the mix.

Pride: a feeling of joy over something about yourself, someone else, or something you are a part of, participated in, feel ownership in, or have accomplished.

As with all emotions, there can be a positive side to the energy, and there can be a negative side. Pride can indicate a “better than” feeling which relies on a comparison to someone else, or simply a personal feeling of joy that has nothing to do with someone else! How could joy be sinful?

I’ll tell you how. Throughout history, those in positions of power feared ideas and people that challenged the institutions in power, the things that gave them their power and authority over others. The church, the aristocracy, or even society in general have found ways to make bold, challenging, and wise people who disagreed with them to be bad, wrong, or even (gasp!) evil.

Some definitions of pride refer to having exaggerated self-esteem, but my experience is that these days the majority of people could use a bit more self-esteem. I strongly take issue with false pride and all of the negative traits associated with it, like that “better than” feeling. But I truly believe people like that are the minority. I also believe that we have more and more people running around with low self-worth, low self-esteem, and lack of pride in who they are and what they are capable of than ever before. I find that most others seem to think it’s the other way around. Differentiating between the concepts of “taking pride” and “having pride” could go a long way in shifting many of the attitudes that seem to indicate a general overall decline of the quality, growth, respect, and self-sufficiency that once upon a time was the norm for this country.

Now comes the fun part. What can we do about it? How can individual people inspire change?

I’m glad you asked.

Find things in who you are and what you do that you can not only be proud of, but you can take pride in. Find the joy of pride and allow it to move you forward so you can be the latest and greatest incarnation of who you are here to be. Humanity needs you to get in the game, so help with shift and be proud of being you.