Pride

Most people would think pride is a bad trait to have, but it is quite necessary. The thought processes behind such a belief would be based on misconceptions. Take pride in who you are, what you've done and what you've set out to achieve. Pride serves better than any other source of motivation

What Is Pride?

The dictionary defines it as, "A feeling of pleasure from one's own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is associated, or from qualities or possession". This definition is bang on target. You should make sure what you have is pride and not arrogance, pride is a great trait to have it helps you not think of failures but about achievements, never lets others undermine the feats you've accomplished. But, Arrogance is a cruel mistress, it sours up the relations, gives you superiority complex and ruins your thrust to work. No good ever came off telling your subordinates that they are inferior, it creates a divide. You must remember, every dog has his day and if that dog comes up ahead of you, he'll bite you in the ass if you were arrogant in his dormancy.

Pride as a Wheel

I had a tryst with the importance of pride while watching the Dragonball Z episode Vegeta's Pride (should sound juvenile, I suppose, but childhood has it's days) where he says, "You may have taken my body, my mind, but there is a thing that a Saiyjin always keeps, It's his Pride." I thought people think little of people who are proud, why would then this show proclaim the need of pride. It is then that I realised that pride and honor are the qualities that determine the intensity of our actions. A real Man, would do anything to not let anything waiver his pride or honor. They provide us with drive to go beyond the ordinary, do the extraordinary, push ourselves to our limits, bear the unbearable still come out on top. This is one of the strongest wheel in my Garage.

Pride Vs. Arrogance

Pride is a word that means a person has self-respect and dignity. To feel pride in oneself or loved ones is a natural sense of successful people. In order to feel prideful, a person feels a sense of satisfaction or pleasure. Pride is often thought to be a positive sentiment.

Arrogance is a word that means a person has a feeling of being superior to other people. When people display arrogance they likely do not feel that they are in fact being arrogant, but rather they probably feel they are only prideful. Some people confuse a sense of pride for arrogance, when the actual definition of arrogance is a false-sense of superiority.

Cautious Pride

You must take pleasure in your achievements, honor yourself but that doesn't mean you feel superior to others or it makes you unable to apologize for your mistakes or to ask for help. The legendary Steve Jobs once said, "I've never had anyone refuse to help if asked nicely."  Don't be indulged in pride so much it clouds your judgement. Pride, when left unchecked, can lead to it turning into arrogance. People may start to dislike you, you may feel they're jealous, but it is only because you're obnoxious. Pride should be in your attitude, the belief what you did was doable and couldn't be achieved with ease, not that no one else can do so. Pride should be your strength, not your weakness.

Always remember what you achieved, you did it for yourself, no one else would have benefited from it, so achieving something doesn't make you superior to anyone, if you start to think so, people wouldn't care less for your existence.

Positive Use Of Pride

1.High standards

Pride is particularly useful when it helps us to have and maintain standards. I am proud of my professional abilities and will work hard to maintain them.

Pride can also be a unifying force in a group of people, such as when a team achieves a difficult challenge or lives up to its high standards. It has historically been used by leaders to encourage a depressed organization or country to feel good again.

In the negative sense, it can be used as a coercion, in the sense that you must feel proud to belong to our group. It is often used by governments to enthuse a people towards war.

Hitler, for example, used it to rally the German nation after the defeat of the first world war and the subsequent ruin. How he then used it to persuade them into terrible acts is well documented. This is an approach used by more than one politician.

2.Achievement

When we achieve a goal, we feel good about ourselves. A common part of this is feeling proud, where our self-respect and feelings of worth are boosted. In this way, our sense of identity is increased.

Pride also can be in the achievement of ownership or position, for example when getting a longed-for a new car. There is a danger here of pride leading to looking down on others, although this is not necessarily so.

Pride is greater when we have had to work hard for something, as this makes the achievement more worthwhile.

3.Superiority

Pride in itself is not a bad thing and can be very useful for maintaining standards. However, it is named as one of the Seven Deadly Sins in recognition of its shadow side, where it mainly about feeling superior to other people. This is often described as 'being prideful', as opposed to the more personal 'being proud'.

We often measure our achievement against that of others rather than our own previous performance. This is useful as a spur to determination. It is harmful when it makes us feel sadly inferior or arrogantly superior. It gets worse when we treat others badly either in spiteful revenge or prideful disdain.

The saying 'Pride goes before a fall' is an indication of how being prideful can lead to a self-importance that leads me to ignore risks (perhaps on the assumption that I am so superior the risks will not dare to happen to me).