My Battle With Arrogance

One of my biggest pet peeves is arrogance.

Whether by friends, family members or folks at work, this deluded, imperious strain that seems to be an all too common attribute pretty much anywhere you go, causes such a heavy vexation to my soul.

So you have money or command a large salary...So you have a Ph.D...So you have a fancy title with a spacious corner office overlooking the city....So you rub elbows with the boss and go to happy hour on Fridays with him/her....so...so what???

As vex as I often get with the arrogant, pity soon follows as I have realized that underneath the hubris lay an unimaginable emptiness & a deep, perhaps unconscious fear of exposure. I am not the judgmental type, however, when it comes to those who float around thinking that they're better than you or anyone else based on some contorted world-view, well, the gloves come off and I pretty much expose them for the pieces of dysfunctional shits that they have allowed themselves to become. Perhaps I am wrong, but I believe in righteous indignation and I will stomp on those who step to me in such a manner. Some years ago, I exposed an entire organization I worked for publicly (in a newspaper article) which embarrassed all the would-be Kings of the company. Since I used an alias, no one knew who wrote the article, but a few suspected that I was probably the one. In any case, a corporate re-organization shortly followed and things got a lot better before I resigned. My point was made.

Destroying arrogance begins with really seeing--being real. When we examine our burdensome and inflated assumptions about ourselves, gradually we begin to unmask the imposter within and soon come to the realization that, fundamentally, we are at the same level of importance as others: not higher, despite our gifts, and not lower, despite our defects - just damn ordinary! At the end of the day, folks are not going to remember you by whatever power or material possessions that you may have acquired, but by the true substance of your soul.

Be real!

OneLove~MixMasterE