Pride, the trap of self-love

There are people who believe they are all powerful, far above others and who always believe they are right. They are those who feel so passionate about themselves that everything is too small for them, no one can teach them or show them anything, because they already “knew it.”

Their ears are closed and their eyes are blind to everything that has nothing to do with them. They are so focused on themselves that they miss everything else, although they are not aware of it.

Its appearance is one of security, but There is no one more insecure than the one who believes himself to be the possessor of the truth. In reality, what happens to them is that they are full of arrogance. Let’s dig deeper.

What is pride?

According to psychiatrist Enrique Rojas, Pride is unbridled passion about oneself, the trap of self-love, the lack of humility and lucidity.

It is a feeling of appreciation in which the person focuses his attention on himself because he considers himself excellent, unique and far above the others.

Pride is considered one of the most serious sins by Christianity. Besides, It was already talked about in ancient Greece. under the term hubris. By it they referred to when a person grew up and defied the will of the gods, that is, when they tried to transgress the limits of their humanity and received divine punishment for it. As an example of arrogant attitudes we can cite Oedipus or Prometheus.

From psychology and philosophy, it is established a blurred distinction between arrogance and pride. Some conceive the latter with a more positive and emotional sense from which we can value ourselves and others and which is sometimes easy to hide; while pride is conceiving oneself as superior to others for the fact of being oneself, which is why they also owe one’s respect and admiration.

In pride, others do not exist. Now, those who are not careful with their pride can go further and end up cultivating arrogant attitudes.

So, Pride is a friend of pride, vanity, the desire for power, narcissism and egocentrism. Everything is too small for him. Whoever has pride is only focused on himself, he does not give value to the opinions of others because he is blind; However, he does need a feedback constant about the image they are projecting to others. What happens is that the strategies he implements to receive it are very subtle.

The insecurity of pride

The characteristic of pride is that, in addition to being illusory and bombastic, it is a disguise that raises insecurity, lack of self-confidence and the feeling of inferiority. Although on many occasions it also occurs in a hidden way.

Both in one and in the other, the person remains blind to his mistakes because it is trapped by its airs of grandeur. An excellence that hides a deep fear of lack and of being less than others and that tries to survive and be loved.

So, behind pride there is fear: fear of not being capable, of not being good, enough or recognized. And faced with the inability to assume it, to accept those fears and wounds, they put on makeup. For this reason, pride serves to “balance” these gaps and as a defense mechanism because it helps to reject rather than be rejected.

So, Those who are arrogant do not usually admit their mistakes because doing so reminds him that he is not as perfect as he thought and as a consequence it will be very difficult for him to ask for forgiveness because he considers that he is never wrong. Just like he also thinks that he is right because he commits the fallacy of authority.

Nevertheless, The arrogant person cares a lot about the opinion and attention of others, even if he or she appears indifferent.so it carries out certain behaviors to obtain them.

As we see, The self-esteem of the arrogant person is deflated, it is very low., because she is full of insecurity, but hides it under a disguise of arrogance. For this reason, when they feel attacked, they tend to get angry, lose control, belittle, become defensive, or stop talking for a while. They have the emotional maturity of a child.

The antidote to pride: humility

In the face of pride, humility is recommended: learn to lead a simpler life in which the value of what is important predominates, such as love, simplicity and generosity. However, there is a previous step and that is the fact of recognize and accept that one is arrogant. Otherwise, it is impossible for it to soften or begin to disappear.

Once accepted, It’s about being honest and sincere with yourself: what am I afraid of? What is it that hurts me that happens? What causes me suffering? Why do I need to be recognized as the best or the most valid?

Additionally, it is also important to change the direction of the focus: There is no longer only oneself, but there are also others. You have to relativize your own importance and know how to look at others.

For it, it is important to work on empathythat knowing how to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, learn to receive criticism and accept your own mistakes and defects.

It is about, little by little, getting rid of that protective disguise that has been worn for so many years but which, in turn, has done so much damage. It is letting down your guard, recognizing your own limitations, and forget about getting so big, because in reality you are not that small.

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