Pride, a blocker that inhibits growth

I’m getting better at riding my motorbike, leaning into the corners while ripping around sweeping bends reminds me of a dog hanging out the car window. It’s taken much practise to feel comfortable at this speed, and while that can be a good thing, this time it wasn’t. Normally I’m concentrating on the road, the bike, my balance, gripping on out of fear more than anything else.

But this time, as I cruised around Mr Surfy Dude with his ute and kayak strapped on the back, I had time to think about what he was thinking, “Damn, that chick’s good”! And that friends, is just plain old pride! Which brings me to the proverb, ‘Pride goes before a fall.’ I could imagine the reason we fall/fail from pride is because we take the focus off the task at hand, and start thinking about ourselves and how good we are.

So how can we/me make sure this doesn’t happen in the future? Because I certainly don’t want to fall off at a dollar ten (that’s code for 110kms per hour).

Do new challenges. There is nothing like being out of your comfort zone to remind you of your weaknesses, which naturally gives us humility.

Be self aware. When we recognise we are thinking about ourselves a lot, then we are one step closer to change this.

Recognise there are always going to be people better/smarter/faster than us, even if it’s in different area than we’re in.

Remind ourselves of the consequences to thinking about ourself too much…which would be failing or loss! 

So if that’s not enough incentive to let go of pride, then ponder on Lucifer for a second. Lucifer was a beautiful angel that God had created, but because he got so full of his own importance, he chose to rebel against God and even try to overthrow him. God quickly vanquished Lucifer and gave him a new name, more aptly suited to his nature, Satan, which means enemy or adversary. Ouch, Lucifer who had a lot but wanted more, lost the lot! Now he’s mighty ticked off and prowling around this earth looking for humans to devour.

“Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”

So here’s one more tip to avoid pride-instead of looking out at other people why not look up at God? When we do that we’ll realise how massive He is and how little we are. Let me finish with a classic quote from C.S Lewis,

“As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down you cannot see something that is above you.”