is this pride?

[indy2878]

What a wonderful and multi talented individual you must be with such an ambitious God given talent in trying to achieve your goals!

I mean this in a good way btw.

But to answer your question its fine to want the best in life, but remember you CANNOT always be on 110% full throttle or you’ll crash. I mean when you drive a car, your foot is on the accelerator pedal at different percentages according to the traffic and driving conditions. For instance, let’s say you need to accelerate from a stand still at a stop light (waking up in the morning, beginning your day…), then you maybe have your foot 3/4 of the way through for 2 hours on the highway going towards your destination (achieving your life goals and dreams) and then you eventually have to put your foot on the brake to slow down and stop (the process of ending your day’s work and wrapping up after meeting your life goals).
And say on another occasion your going about driving your way and then you see a kid and in just a split second, you smash on the brakes down hard to avoid hitting the pedestrian. (the times in life when you are called by God to charity even by BEING a friend to someone else in need…).

I was in the same position where you’re at before.
I would want THE best for myself in just about every single thing in life. Whether it were about achieving grades in school, being the “top dog” in sports, needing to look “better” than other people, etc… But then I found God. He knocked on my door and asked me, “You are welcome to my house AT ANY TIME!” So Jesus left, then when I went and followed him (going to church, praying, receiving the sacraments, patience in trusting in my faith!), I eventually saw his BIG house. And a wide gate with a small door just slightly open. And a written note specifically for me that mentioned the door is ALWAYS open for me to go in and walk through. And after that I walked through the door and then there my faith did wonderful things for me!

Life is a struggle. Yes it definitely is! For some they meet a small lake, waist deep and can reach the other side easily. For some, like myself, its many oceans and thousands of miles away to reach my destination… But with my faith in God the wind of faith hopefully will ALWAYS lead me to the right direction! For you just pray daily, go to church, offer up to him in silent prayer your life struggles and leave the rest to God to answer!

My best wishes!

 

[someperson555]

The Litany of Humility

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus. (repeat after each line)
From the desire of being loved,
From the desire of being extolled,
From the desire of being honored,
From the desire of being praised,
From the desire of being preferred to others,
From the desire of being consulted,
From the desire of being approved,
From the fear of being humiliated,
From the fear of being despised,
From the fear of suffering rebukes,
From the fear of being calumniated,
From the fear of being forgotten,
From the fear of being ridiculed,
From the fear of being wronged,
From the fear of being suspected,
That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. (repeat after each line)
That others may be esteemed more than I ,
That, in the opinion of the world,
others may increase and I may decrease,
That others may be chosen and I set aside,
That others may be praised and I unnoticed,
That others may be preferred to me in everything,
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should,

this the litany of st francis, right? I have a high admiration for st francis, especially because he cared so much for the environment and animals (something im passionate about too). he taught us the joy in simplicity, and for that i have nothing but respect for him. however i have to admit that everytime i see this prayer i cringe. some of the things in it says actually pray NOT to have. i.e. “the desire of being honored” I shudder at the thought of losing that desire.

 

[someperson555]

What a wonderful and multi talented individual you must be with such an ambitious God given talent in trying to achieve your goals!

I mean this in a good way btw.

But to answer your question its fine to want the best in life, but remember you CANNOT always be on 110% full throttle or you’ll crash. I mean when you drive a car, your foot is on the accelerator pedal at different percentages according to the traffic and driving conditions. For instance, let’s say you need to accelerate from a stand still at a stop light (waking up in the morning, beginning your day…), then you maybe have your foot 3/4 of the way through for 2 hours on the highway going towards your destination (achieving your life goals and dreams) and then you eventually have to put your foot on the brake to slow down and stop (the process of ending your day’s work and wrapping up after meeting your life goals).
And say on another occasion your going about driving your way and then you see a kid and in just a split second, you smash on the brakes down hard to avoid hitting the pedestrian. (the times in life when you are called by God to charity even by BEING a friend to someone else in need…).

I was in the same position where you’re at before.
I would want THE best for myself in just about every single thing in life. Whether it were about achieving grades in school, being the “top dog” in sports, needing to look “better” than other people, etc… But then I found God. He knocked on my door and asked me, “You are welcome to my house AT ANY TIME!” So Jesus left, then when I went and followed him (going to church, praying, receiving the sacraments, patience in trusting in my faith!), I eventually saw his BIG house. And a wide gate with a small door just slightly open. And a written note specifically for me that mentioned the door is ALWAYS open for me to go in and walk through. And after that I walked through the door and then there my faith did wonderful things for me!

Life is a struggle. Yes it definitely is! For some they meet a small lake, waist deep and can reach the other side easily. For some, like myself, its many oceans and thousands of miles away to reach my destination… But with my faith in God the wind of faith hopefully will ALWAYS lead me to the right direction! For you just pray daily, go to church, offer up to him in silent prayer your life struggles and leave the rest to God to answer!

My best wishes!

thank you for this response. i just wanty to clarify that I ALWAYS liked doing charity and helping others. and id be friends with anyone who is not mean to me. i simply want to be admired for my attributes. thats basicaly as far as my “pride goes”. and im relieved to hear that im not sinning by wanting that. thats basically all i wanted to know.

 

[Zundrah]

hi, i need some advice. i need to know if my personality is prideful. okay so basically all my life ive had a strong urge to always be the best at everything. i always had to be the most intelligent, the most athletic, the most beautiful, the most clean, etc. and i like showing off my looks and intelligence, but NOT to make others jealous, just to make myself feel good. i always needed to be admired, if i wasnt i would feel worthless.
i dont think im prideful because im very kind towards other people, even when they are hostile towards me, and i dont shun uglier or dumber people in public (or private). what im trying to say is that i dont think im more important than other people, (but i do think im better than some people). and thats my other question, is it prideful to think you are better than someone if you actually are?
so anyway, is my personality prideful from what i described?

Is this pride? No, this is Sparta!

Now on a seriously note, yes it actually is.

 

[Sherry_G]

The fact that you asked the question speaks volumes, doesn’t it? Taking good care of our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual selves shows respect for our creator. Once you’ve taken good care, look outward to take good care of your neighbor and you will be blessed by God. Looking to others for confirmation of your own selfworth is not necessary or good for you. Ask the Lord to show you what He wants from you and He will do it.

 

[eddadonkey]

+JMJ+

There are a few saint that were put in my face and I was taught to hate them: St. John Berchmans was one of them. The other was St. Aloisius Gonzague and other crowd who did nothing wrong. They were out of this world.
I belonged to the crowd that in my teens, was doing everything wrong, we did believe in such sanctity.
We preferred St. Francis Xavier and St Francis of Assisi or St. Augustin, who did also things which were wrong.

You were TAUGHT to hate some saints? What kind of a teacher is that?!

 

[eddadonkey]

+JMJ+

thank you, this was exactly what i needed to hear. the thing is i am scrupulous, so sometimes i get religious obsessions like this. and yes, any intelligence i have i would ofcourse want to help others with it. thats not the issue for me. its just that, at the same time i also want to be looked up to and admired.
PS. i actually dont think of myself as “handsome”, i just try to look the best i can lol.

Well, then, you obviously have the root sin of one kind of pride, vanity.

A “root sin” is the main weakness of an individual with respect to the spiritual life. Many spiritual directors classify the root sins into three, which is taken from 1 John 2:16: pride, vanity, and sensuality. Pride is when we sin by putting ourselves first, ahead of God; sensuality is when we put things first; and vanity is when we put the esteem of others first.

Here are some reflections on how to overcome vanity:

How can I overcome the root sin of vanity?

I discovered my root sin is vanity and I am struggling with this…

Let me also put together a reflection on humility while you are reading the above. Humility, like all the others have suggested, will be a big part of your arsenal against this root sin.

God love you.

 

[Pfaffenhoffen]

+JMJ+

You were TAUGHT to hate some saints? What kind of a teacher is that?!

I tell you the idea: the priests in my college put these saints as models. We were pretty rebels as we were boys without families and so on with many problems of behavior.
So, these saints were the last ones we wanted to imitate. We hated them and as much the priests put them in front of us as examples, as much we hated them. They looked to us, rebels, like nuts. Maybe they had a good family who raised them but we had nothing, so we felt that it was unfair to put them before us. We considered them nuts…

But if you put St.Francis Xavier, St. Augustin or St. Damien or St. Francis of Assisi, then we loved them.

 

[someperson555]

But your philosophy is not the “me” thing?
The Lord Jesus said that to be the best is to be the servant of all, to visit the poor, to care for the afflicted one, to heal the wounds of the mind.
It is not only to be surrounded by the best to learnt from them but also to be surrounded but the misery of the Earth to help, to give a hand where is needed, to do whatever we can to make this world better.

absolutely, i care about the poor and destitute people, and i help them in any way i can. im quite charitable actually. but i also like to be admired and honored in certain times. thats all im asking, is that considered pride? for example, i like wearing expensive flashy clothing in public so i can look good and so others will notice me.