Pride Is Not The Enemy (It’s A Tool)

Ever since embarking on a spiritual journey, I always thought that humility is the ultimate goal of anyone who’s trying to get closer to truth. Although humility is an important part of spiritual growth, in its pursuit we tend to neglect its estranged cousin — Pride.

Pride is often seen as the bad guy — every spiritual seeker’s nemesis. We get the idea in our heads from all these transcendent Gurus and egoless mystics that ego = bad, and that pride is associated with the ego.

To some extent, pride is associated with the ego, especially when we develop a distorted sense of self-importance. However, pride isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

On one hand, we should be proud of who we are and what we have accomplished. We should have some pride because it’s a propeller that pushes us to achieve more. On the other hand, we can also veer too far into pride where it evolves into its toxic counterpart — Arrogance.

We can definitely become too prideful, and we can also feel no pride at all. Either way, it’s a disadvantage. For the healthiest balance, we should have some pride, but it must be counterweighted with humility.

This is why it’s important to discuss humility vs pride in this article and explore how can can find the right balance that helps us navigate life in the best possible way.

Humility vs pride: What’s the difference?

Humility and pride are often seen as opposite sides of the same spectrum, and generally, we value humility over pride. Humility is seen as a virtue while pride on the other hand is often seen as a sin — the shameful counterpart.

Yes, generally speaking, we should be humble. We shouldn’t boast or brag about our achievement, or believe that we are above anyone. However, we do need some self-importance in this day and age, otherwise, we’re not going to create the lives we want.

Being humble involves recognizing our limitations, faults, and flaws realistically, and valuing everyone around us. It’s a view of life where we see ourselves as a small part of a much larger system, in which we wouldn’t be where we are without others.