Kathy Cunningham
Why is pride one of the seven deadly sins when we have so much to be proud of?
We talk about having national pride in and being proud of our sporting teams including the All Blacks, Team New Zealand and the New Zealand women's sevens team. We are proud of individual
sporting greats including Lydia Ko, Eliza McCartney and Andrew Nicholson. Closer to home, it's the 'Butcher Boys', Earl Bamber, Rebecca Scown and Chris Harris among others.
How proud are you of Lorde, Peter Beck, Peter Jackson, Willie Apiata, Sir Edmund Hillary and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa?
We have civic pride in where we live and are proud of our river, our schools, the history and heritage as well as the vibrant arts scene. This along with great coffee and innovation in business makes Whanganui a great place to live and be proud of.
And, then there is personal pride. You can feel proud of an accomplishment you have worked hard for, or feel proud of someone else - a son, daughter, sister, brother, neighbour or colleague.
I felt proud of Kevin Double and Melita Farley when I saw their award- winning documentary Set In Stone about the Maori World War I monument in Pakaitore of Herewini Whakania. Melita and Kevin demonstrated what can be accomplished in Whanganui with a whole lotta love and a heap of community spirit with their film.
The American Journal of Political Science calls pride the deadliest sin and ThoughtCo surmises, "It's certainly true that people can be overconfident in their own abilities and that this can lead to tragedy, but it's also true that too little confidence can prevent a person from achieving their full potential. If people won't acknowledge that their achievements are their own, they won't recognize that it is up to them to keep persevering and achieving in the future."
Of the seven deadly sins, pride is the only one with a virtuous side. But, when taken too far as documented in Pride by Michael Eric Dyson, these virtues move from pride as a vice to pride as a sin. And, Benjamin Franklin said, "For even if I could conceive that I had completely overcome it (pride), I should probably be proud of my humility."
Some say that the word pride comes from the French word 'prud' which means 'excellent, splendid, arrogant, haughty' or from the Latin word 'prodis' which means 'useful'.
Wherever the word comes from, I think we need to celebrate being proud in recognising the small things as well as the big accomplishments. These can be anything from just getting out of bed to quitting smoking; walking around the block to buying your first home.
In an article by Dr John Amodeo on the psychcentral blog, he suggests using the term 'dignity' instead of pride to help stave off confusion for feeling positive about a personal accomplishment.
What will you do today to make you feel proud? Or, if you wish to use a different word, please insert dignity, integrity, compassion or humility and do something that will make you and others feel good or proud!