The Shades of Pride
Posted on January 28, 2021 by Ann Franzese, One of Thousands of Business Coaches on Noomii.
Pride, proud, happiness, satisfaction, achievement, accomplishment, dignity, self worth, shame, dishonor, embarrassment, baggage, perspectives
Shallow with Shame. Deep with Dignity.
Pride is a word that can be incorrectly interpreted. It is a word that can stir up the most intense feelings of joy yet can takes us to our greatest inner depths of hurt and pain.
The way we comprehend words always depends on the lens through which we view. If our perspective leads us to feel proud, happy, accomplished, achievement, satisfaction, gratification, happiness, even dignity and self worth, it’s because the experiences that led to these moments were positive and let us feel safe. However, if our experiences lead us to feel shame, dishonor and regret as our perspective perceives the expression of pride as being boastful, perhaps embarrassing, or another catabolic way that causes one to retreat, then we cannot rise to the levels of what pride represents. We are stuck in the pain and suffering we’ve allowed others to instill within us.
Consider a young child learning to ride a bike for the first time. Can you imagine the pure joy and excitement that welled up inside that came from the balancing on two wheels? What about the responses from the observers then and later? Many accolades except from one, the parent whom they always are seeking approval. The one parent who says, “It’s about time, isn’t it? How old are you now?” What once was a joyous feeling is now a deflated and painful experience. These yearning feelings for approval contribute to the lack one can feel within.
Pride is about owning the accomplishment and the feat. Yet our inner child- like self who once lived in a world of curiosity and exploration withdraws as that’s what one has learned over time, has been trained in fact by the surrounding world of influence.
How does the word pride resonate with you? Can you stand in your accomplishments and achievements, truly receive them? Or do you sit in the silence and revere your accomplishments internally as outwardly you see them as boastful and perhaps a bit egocentric? Or has the idea of “pride” hidden itself, far far away to where you cannot feel it anymore and the very thought of it makes you feel less than you are? What kind of inner self-worth baggage are you carrying? What is it costing you?
Pride with boastfulness has some blurry lines. Learning how to lean into our inner self-talk and into our environment discerning what fills up our inner tank and what depletes our inner tank is a skill worth developing. When we can see how we show up for ourselves and how we show up to others helps us to up-level and be proud of the person we are and the one we are forever becoming!
I challenge you to Celebrate. Be Open to Receive. Beam with Pride.
