We are proud of the things we have achieved. Pride in our profession, our performance, our awards. In our country, our city.
If our pride is so great, then why are there always people who try to convince us that their achievements are better? And why do we have to defend and justify our own?
Looking at the Map of Consciousness, we see that pride is still calibrated in negative territory. This means that it is a contracting energy with a tendency to slip further into negative territory. Why?
It polarizes. It puts “mine” versus “yours” in the foreground. It tries to portray itself as something special that is better than the other one. Better than the one which has not achieved.
But who says that winning is better than losing? Europeans better than Americans? Can we ever presume to really judge the impact and power of any event? What is the measure of the assessment? And do we know what is necessary for the good of all, in a world in which every small event can cause unimaginable changes?
So pride causes envy due to its own energy - it is two sides of the same coin. When I say “I’m better”, I imply that I am “better than you”, or “better than the other” - and the other feels diminished. In a universe where everything has its place, an increase is simultaneously a reduction.
Now this is neither good nor bad (which is again an evaluation) - it just is. Pride provokes envy and we should not be surprised.
Transcend Pride
If we instead take pride in our achievements and be simply grateful, we escape the trap of duality. Gratitude is a positive, selfless energy, thus causing no backlash from the outside. Yes, it strengthens itself even still, and increases our resonance.
We are grateful, so we trigger significantly less envious people, because they can’t find a point of attack. We cannot really attack someone who is grateful… At most, we can talk about an apparent weakness, if we are stuck in a certain defying energy.
Gratitude and Joy
I can be grateful for an outstanding performance. And even for being simply part of a group, for an experience. And I can look forward during the experience to the result - all without pride.
Each individual perceives different situations for different reasons and takes in very different things… often we know afterwards why an event was good. What then are we really proud of?
It is rather a reason for gratitude and joy to know that a force in the background controls the events for the benefit of all.
