Pride

Pride is a weird thing. I cannot relate to those who maintain that by their own efforts they have built something great.  That is not to say they have not.  But it is to say that whatever someone achieves is first and foremost the result of a gift.
I think to myself I had nothing to do with who I am and where I was born.  I could have been born unable to communicate.  In one sense to take credit for what I have achieved is ludicrous.  I am just thankful for who I am.
By the same token I do not despise someone for making the most of what they have.  In fact, to me that is the way to go.  It is a waste to forgo what I have been given - for it to remain unused.  It does not matter if I have heaps of talent or minimal. What matters to me is using what I have.
Yet there is another element of pride I reckon is not so grandiose, but is the bain of me and everyone I know. It is the pride of thinking I am better than another.  It may not be said, but my actions can so easily imply it.   It is thinking “I am glad I am not that person” not for the legitimate reason that I enjoy who I am but the thinking that they are the lessor because they have less.
Most of life I can go through without any such thought or attitude.  Fio me it is in unguarded moments that I can say something that reveals an attitude.  It may be a surprise to me, but that does not make it any less real.
Why that is such a surprise and disappointment is that as most know I am a great believer in us all being in this together.  Sure there are people I would not normally associate with.  Some may even be an embarrassment to me as I sure I am to others.
Yet the lowest of the low has dignity.  I feel it is up to me that every chance I get to build up another.  Not by telling lies but by declaring what is but perhaps may not be known by the person.
In a way I feel like I am manifesting what I have delighted to do for much of my life.  That is seek out the hidden and perhaps overlooked.  As far as I am concerned the best of the table is not just for the influential and well known but for the hidden and overlooked.
All being in this together means the highest of the high and lowest of the low.  I am in there somewhere and want to give a hand to those below and above.  It is a good journey I reckon I’m on, and as far as I can, I will assist all in reaching a good place.  Swallowing my pride is good for me and others.