Earthen Pride

There are many versions of the story of creation. These stories each have distinct styles and themes unique to a culture. The Visayan story of creation is one with themes of love, pride, and remorse.

Likalibutan is one of the four children of Lihangin and Lidagat. He is described as willful, strong, and built of molten rock and stone. When his parents died, Lihangin left the power over the winds to Likalibutan. This power is where Likalibutan’s downfall begins. He becomes prideful about his strength and ropes his brothers into foolishly challenging their all-powerful grandfather Kaptan. This ended terribly with all siblings, including the innocent Lisuga, getting struck down with lightning. After realizing what he had done, Kaptan and Maguayan reformed their grandchildren into the beautiful sun, moon and stars, except for Likalibutan who became the land.

Likalibutan’s downfall caused by excessive pride, misplaced confidence, and selfimportance is called hubris. While ordinary people do not have power over the wind or seas, people still overestimate themselves. Hubris can disguise itself as that feeling of overflowing power that clouds better judgment, similar to the feeling of drunken confidence that results in irrational decisions and unnecessary risk-taking. However, you are mostly sober, so the decisions you make have to be rational enough, right? Unfortunately, hubris is also associated with irresponsibility, unwillingness to consider other options, and loss of contact with reality, which all have detrimental effects on the individual and those around them.

Do these descriptions remind you of someone? How can we tell if it is pride or hubris? Pride is short-lived and has a good reason for it.

It is a positive emotion that is empowering and can be a source of strength. Hubris on the other hand is compulsive and overbearing. It seeps into everyday life and exhibits itself as subtle cues such as a disproportionate concern with image, excessive confidence in intuition, disdain for constructive criticism, exaggerated self-belief, and lack of accountability. It pushes people to isolate themselves out of spite and self-righteousness. Hubristic people build walls of earth on the sand, blocking people who want to build authentic relationships with them.

Awareness is the first step in countering or avoiding hubris. When creating or participating in a project, be proactive and realistic. Take responsibility for both failure and success, and acknowledge the contributions of other people. Practice empathy and keep a solution-focused mindset. Actively counter your cognitive biases by trusting others to do well without you. If you find yourself micromanaging everything, ask yourself, “Am I doing this for the group or just to please myself?” There is a difference between being bossy and being encouraging. Another way to foster a healthy amount of pride is to choose your company well. Notice the people you spend time with, do they motivate you to grow? Or do they offer empty praise and nitpick at mistakes? Surround yourself with honest people who encourage you but also keep you grounded in reality. Chances are, they are the people who call you out, but they have always been there to help you rebuild.

Taking pride in oneself is crucial for self-esteem and performance, but always keep in mind that a humble foundation is always more impressive than an undue peak.