Sin #7

PRIDE

"In almost every list Pride is considered the original and most serious of The Seven Deadly Sins, and indeed the ultimate source from which the others arise. It is identified as a desire to be more important or attractive than others, failing to give compliments to others though they may be deserving of them, and excessive love of self (especially holding self out of proper position toward God). Dante's definition was "love of self perverted to hatred and contempt for one's neighbor." ... In perhaps the most famous example, the story of Lucifer, Pride was what caused his Fall from Heaven, and his resultant transformation into Satan..."

www.wikipedia.org

I went to a competitive, all-girls, successful high school. We had a fantastic record - academically, musically, sportingly, nationally... Why? Because the school, our year especially, was incredibly competitive. Sure, we were a nice year level, but boy, were we competitive. We'd work our butts off to do our best; whether it meant staying up until 4am in the morning, working through lunch, refusing to let other people see our work if we thought they might copy, keeping good ideas a secret... Anything. Friendship, step aside. We were there to win.

The question that we had to ask ourselves at the end of the year, when exams loomed and we were faced with the extent of our abilities, was why we did it. Why we put the pressure on ourselves. Evenutally, it became obvious. We wanted to be the best. We NEEDED to be the best. Because, otherwise, we felt inadequate.

If someone beat us, we were happy for them... at least on the surface. Underneath, at least a little, there was resentment. Resentment, for the very idea that someone was better than us, that we wouldn't be able to top them.

It's 2007. People love themselves and feel a need to be the best - so that other people love us just as much. Whether it be at school, work, uni... everyone is always striving to be the best. Not because we necessarily want to be the best - but we at least want everyone else to think that we are. That we're more important, that we're more attractive. And we're willing to withhold compliments from those who are more deserving of them, being careful that we don't build anyone up, just in case their tower gets built highter than ours.

It's all about pride. Way back when, people only competed over who had the best cow. Their entire livelihood didn't depend on the best livestock, though. Somehow, over time, a need to be the best has arisen from somewhere. I can't tell you where or when it showed up - but it did. Now people just want to be the best.

Annie