My Thoughts on Pride

Theres something I've been tossing around my mind for a few days now that has been bothering me. Maybe this is just me taking things too seriously but maybe not.

We've all heard of the 7 Deadly Sins. In my drama class right now we are doing plays dealing with this concept. The 7 Deadly Sins are Lust, Gluttony, Greed Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride. Now before this project arose, I admit I didn't know ALL the Sins but I could name of a few of them. But I never knew that Pride was included in this list of things that are associated with sinning but it's there and when you look up the definition of Pride this is what you get :

Pride : a desire to be more important or attractive than others, failing to give compliments to others though they may be deserving of them, and excessive love of self. ( says wikipedia )

I can't even figure out why having Pride is a bad thing. I mean isn't Pride meaning you are proud of yourself for the things that you accomplish, overcome and acheive ??? THATS what I think about when I think about Pride. Especially when it comes to being gay. When I think of myself and pride and being a lesbian I think of how I overcame the fear of my life changing in a BIG way and of disappointing and losing the love and respect of my family and friends. I accomplished finding out who I am and accepting a new way of life where not everyone's going to agree with me or support who I am. I acheived respect from those close to me for being brave enough to come out and be able to say '' I'm a lesbian'' and then having to lose some friends and some relationships that I had developed over the years because some people had reasons not to stick around. When I think of Pride I think of how proud I am of myself. I don't think I'm better than ANYBODY and I don't think anybody is better than me. I believe we're all equal, all the time. No matter our gender, race, religion or sexual orientation. I compliment others when they have done good things and give them the praise that they fully desreve. And YES I have love for myself, because if I didn't love who I am and embrace my flaws and have self - respect I would JUST NOT BE ME. So when I say I have Pride, I don't use the definition of Pride that tells of sin, ignorance and selfishness. I have my own definition for pride that is special and significant to me. I don't care what Wikipedia says. To have pride is to be proud. If thats a sin then I guess my parking space in heaven will have to go to someone deemed more worthy than me because perhaps I'm enjoying sinning way more than anyone should.

Chris