Pride

Pride

"The proud man's arrows swiftly bring pain."
     ___ Llywarch Hen, "Gorwynion"


  Pride is a defensive and self-boosting current that can hard-wire our whole life. It keeps us in and everyone else out. We can hide behind it, as in a fortress, firing our poison-tipped arrows of pain against all who come against us. It elevates us above our natural status in life, givi8ng us a false and lofty frontage that is both illusory and dishonest. Having pride does not actually enhance any gifts that we have or make us better people; it merely enables us to look down upon other people and demean their actions.

  How do we break down the gence of pride surrounding our own lives? Once we have erected defenses, they can prove hard to shift, for pride soon becomes habitual, like an addiction. Climbing down and over that fence is a humiliating capitulation that brings no applause, as we have seen when famous public figures attempted to pick themselves up after notable humiliations. How do we deal with pride when we find it beginning to9 create a shell about our lives?

  A little self-effacement and commitment to the welfare of others is good medicine against the creepting ivy of self-regard. Anything that forces us out from our defensive castle into the arena of the world, where we meet and interact with people, is good for our pride. Pride cannot be cured once and for all time, however. It is persistently perennial like grass, springing up a few blades at a time. Only constant vigilance and endless patience will keep it back.

"How does pride manifest itself in your life? Meditate upon ways in which it can be checked."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]