Thanks for sharing.

It seems like we humans have an almost addictive need to feel proud of ourselves.

We constantly search for that elusive feeling of pride. I think we often first search for it in our accomplishments. And if that fails, we search for it in our identities - in the stories we tell ourselves about our upbringings or our ancestry or DNA. But those stories are myths - smoke and mirrors - and are set up to fail if we cling to them too hard or too long.

Humans will lie, cheat, and steal to feel proud. And in doing so, we hurt our neighbors and ourselves. And it seems like maybe, the way to resolve all this grief, is to stop trying to beat each other all the time with our false claims to better accomplishments or better identities. And to instead recognize that we are all just doing the best we know. And that none of us really earn anything we have.

We don't control where we come from, how smart we are, who our parents are, what opportunities we are given, or what traumas happen to us. We don't even really control how much grit or drive we have. Because, after all, the fuel for both grit and drive is hope. And because whether we respond to problems with hope or despair depends on what our life has taught us is the more appropriate response. And at an even deeper level, grit and drive are still just results of our brain and DNA, which we don't control. So in the end, everything we have, everything we are, and everything we've acheived, are all the result of things we don't control. So it's best we own up to that and stop trying to take pride in all of the accidents of our existence.

Pride is an addiction. And like all addictions, the first step is recognizing it as such. And the next step is realizing that we don't need it. We don't need to be proud. We just need to let our little bodies love what they love, and let whatever we are be enough.