The Feeling Of Pride

genesis-project (60)in #life • 8 years ago

Pride is that feeling that occurs after you complete a task that people have deemed to be unaccomplishable. It could also be felt towards family members, siblings or friends when they accomplish a mighty task. During these period, you feel invincible and on top of the world because you did something great or someone close to you did. There, however is a feeling like you are the best person in the world, the need for attentions, the demand for respect. Usually, it is normal during periods of great triumph, but what happens when this attitude is taking into our day to day life?

We all have that sibling that is always ignoring people if they do not greet him, that cousin that always ignores people who do not acknowledge people because he/she feels like he is better. It could be a class mate or a neighbor who won't let the whole class or neighborhood rest because his parent bought him a new device. This person just keeps talking about the newly acquired fortune like he wants to to praise him for having it each and everyday you see him. Or a fellow employee who demands respect from his boss because he his older or because his family members are famous.

Much as pride could often be a very wrong attitude,it could also be a good attitude when in moderation. The benefits of life are thus illustrated in the next few lines.

SELF ESTEEM

Individuals with low self esteem find it very difficult to express themselves and are often forced to be introverted due to fear of being looked down upon. A feeling of pride would help these kind of people. Learning to be proud could help this people very much as being proud entails being able to overlook any kind of small dirt in the family. For instance, there could be a case of one of the person's family member committing a criminal offence. This would naturally lead to the individual loosing face among his friend's and relatives but if said individual is proud of the reason the family member did what they did(stole money from rich to feed the poor) or be proud of a great accomplishment another family member or them the self have gotten, there would be less tendency for them to have any negative feelings or succumb to depression.

RESPECT

Only an individual who is proud of the actions of another can show them much respect. Obviously, no one will respect the family member who is always failing or committing vices just because he feels he can do whatever he wants and not because he his pushed to such reports due to circumstances. You can only respect an individual if you are proud of one or two things about him/her. Whether they bought the latest car available or they always feed the poor or are involved in a Non governmental organization that is helping the country in any way. Once you are proud of an individual, there is an innate sense of respect that follows suit.

SELF CONFIDENCE

Pride furnished an individual's sense of being. Making them see themselves as important and equal to every other being. For an individual to be proud he has to have achieved something great, something praise worthy,something he/she can hold on to as an accomplishment whenever life tries to tell them they are worthless and have no hope of ever being anything. Someone who is proud of his own accomplishment will never be brought down by trials and tribulations that try to mime his hard work, rather he/she would strive harder knowing they have undergone something of that nature and survived.

Pride comes in different forms

MATERIAL PRIDE

This is a form of pride that stems from the possession of certain material things by members if the family or by one's own self. An example is a situation whereby an individual's parent has the only car in the whole neighborhood. Such individual could have an high ego and could go about boasting and talking about the car. More often than not, these individuals go on ahead to tease or insult other members of the community about not being able to afford such material object.

ABSTRACT PRIDE

This is pride based on non materialistic things, on things that aren't readily visible or do not really amount to much if taken into deep consideration but despite that still manages to keep the individual's ego in the clouds.

Examples include;

Intelligence- This is usually present in school environment when an individual being even only slightly more intelligent than his peers or excelling in a difficult course more than others starts feeling like he ought to be respected for his prowess. They might even go as far as to make a group of people who follow them around just so they can tutor them. Such individual might need to read extra than others just to feel like they are smart. Sometimes, said student might act arrogant toward teachers and seniors believing themselves to be the best in whatever subject they excellent at.
Personality- Some people's personality could be the problem. They could just be proud of who they are or how they are made. This form of pride doesn't usually come with arrogance,it more or less makes the individual do things without hesitation and being sure of what they want to do.
Beauty- Common among ladies who once they have established themselves to be pretty start acting up among their peers and people around them.
Status- People who have parents in high status could also be intoxicated by the implication of this start demanding respect for being the child of such a person. It might be something as low as being a community chairman. Such person might even demand for respect where the status doesn't have any significance.

CAUSES OF EXCESSIVE PRIDE

(1) Family: One's upbringing and family status can contribute to how one will behave under certain conditions. People from extremely rich families could have been pampered and used to talking down to their servants or house help. These behaviors could be executed outside where the person's family wealth or position does not mean anything.

(2) Inferiority complex: Like drug abuse, pride could be instigated by inferiority complex where and individual with low self esteem tries to imitate people whom he things have higher esteem and ends up picking a films excuse to be proud. It could be because he or she is beautiful or maybe their intelligence is just higher than others.

(3) Peer pressure: Peer pressure has the strongest influence on an in an individual's personality. And individual might be calm, resolved, and filled with humility but after living or moving around with proud people could unconsciously or consciously begin to emulate them and this leads to an unnaturally proud individual.

Written and edited by @marvel1206, posted by @camzy