Pride is a fickle fish that I've been trying to keep an eye on since I recognized it woven into my ancestral tapestry. I've seen it constantly wielding it head trying to prove a point or keep arms folded and mouth locked from compassion and resolution. Letting go of pride isn't about not being or holding the self in honor. It's more about recognizing when it is serving Ego instead of YOU. A lot of the times, people who allow pride to run amuck have a difficult time in admitting they are wrong which also means they are not taking responsibility for their actions. Within every conflict, disagreement, situation that involves you and others exists a fair sized if not modicum of individual responsibility to the direction things progress into. Having a willingness to admit and own up to ones actions is an important part of the process towards compassion.
Pride is needing to be right at any cost, regardless of who gets bowled over and/or how. But how does being right really serve someone and their relationships? I guess there is a time and place for the details and content to matter all circumstantially dependant.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that your pride is not worth closing down your relationships for.
Don't continue to degrade someone's worth because you refuse to admit that perhaps you are being too harsh.
Don't deny yourself growth because you were too prideful to acknowledge your part within a conflict.
Don't hold onto a grudge about something that bothered you if you are unwilling to accept a resolution.
Don't miss out on the opportunity to show humility towards your children by apologising when you lose your temper and/or say or do something hurtful towards them.
These examples of pride are causing the most damage to the wielder. It can alienate you from people who want to love you. It can isolate you from developing into a more loving and compassionate individual. It can block you from growth and lock your brain into potentially deadly mindsets. It can aid in developing a false sense of self that is nothing short of delusional.
None of these things are going to serve you in a positive way unless you find a way to take control of prideful reactions and responses, catch them before, during or after and remedy them.
The silver lining is that it's never too late to start taking responsibility for your actions. You can own up to past mistakes and start the healing process, NOW, right NOW. You can contact those people who you have blocked from your life and recognise them for the love they had to give and take responsibility for your part in denying a mutually beneficial relationship. You can start to forgive yourself and others on levels that can feel as if you are letting go of bundles of rocks you have been carrying around.
It's a process, we have no switches that we can switch for a quick fix. There will be many times where we think we've got a handle on things and then lose control of pride and it takes over running tyrannical but with the willingness, patience and resolve to conquer, we eventually, through time, can become the master.
It is truly worth the effort for it strengthens us. It defines us. The struggles in life will always be there, we get to choose whether those struggles shape us into strong, learned masters of growth and compassion or weak, narrow-minded, alienated and delusional.
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