Hubris: The Human Condition

What is a man but a collection of faults and weaknesses? It may seem like a pessimistic view to claim we are nothing but our bad parts. I, however; challenge you to think of that as truth and listen to me on this. We are naturally conditioned from birth to find the good in ourselves and work to exemplify those things and those alone. I chose to personally throw that notion away and I think it was a pretty bold thing to do and ultimately the right thing to do, in my mind at least. When you only care about the good in yourself you end up neglecting the flaws and then they sit at the bottom of your personality and fester. I used to be a very prideful person, but never chose to accept that fact and it lead to a falling out in a few areas. Since my new life outlook I can't in good conscious say I am no longer prideful though. However, since I identified that part of me, I have actively tried to be more humble in everything I do and I do this not to cover up that pride but so that I feel truly prideful of the things I do. Pride was the deadliest of the seven sins for a reason and that's because it encompasses all the others. When you succumb to pride you begin to think more highly of yourself in every aspect and become foolhardy and arrogant. That arrogance can lead you down a very dark path I know, but since the turnaround and my increased humility I still feel pride but not in the overwhelming sense like before. I'm not saying be humble in everything because sometimes you do something that's really amazing because as humans we are capable of such feats. All I am saying is that keep your pride in check and here's some examples. If you play sports and score the winning points then go ahead and have some pride you just won for goodness sake but afterwards don't begin telling everyone that the team couldn't have done it without you because in reality you couldn't have done it without the team. Pride comes from two sources: arrogance and achievement, identify where your pride comes from and you'll know whether or not your pride is earned. My main point here is that, take it from a guy who has been there that pride has some fine lines that many people don't realize they cross before it's too late and everything they held so close was taken away. I think I'll finish with this quote: "A man who is eating or lying with his wife or preparing to go to sleep in humility, thankfulness and temperance, is, by Christian standards, in an infinitely higher state than one who is listening to Bach or reading Plato in a state of pride."-C.S. Lewis.