A touch of childhood teachings came back to me today. Not that I recalled exactly what I learned – only that the word “proud” was considered questionable. I recall pride being considered one of the 7 deadly sins and while I do not follow any particular religion at this stage in my life – I do endeavor to maintain consistent positive actions to all those around me. 

When Gregory said something today which made me feel proud of him – to have him represent himself as a person, and our son – well, it felt good.  I questioned myself whether this was considered a not-so-positive emotion?

I’ve never given the word much consideration until this evening. I looked it up and sure enough, it came up with bible teachings. But was this the same thing? Words, as I’m recognizing through learning another language, can mean different things depending upon which context.

Wiki includes a definition I managed to get my head around (although good and bad could be considered opinions, we won’t go there right now):

Pride means having a feeling of being good and worthy. The adjective is proud.

The word pride can be used in a good sense as well as in a bad sense.

In a good sense it means having a feeling of self-respect. People can be satisfied with their achievements. They can be proud of something good that they have done. They can be proud of (or take pride in) their work. They might be proud of their son or daughter or husband or wife or anyone else who is close to them and who has done something good. People can be proud of their country (patriotism).

In a bad sense, pride can mean that someone has an exaggerated sense of feeling good. This might mean that someone has no respect for what other people do, only respect for what he or she does. Someone who is described as proud may be arrogant. The word is used in this sense in the saying: “Pride comes before a fall” (meaning that someone is so overconfident that he or she might soon have a disaster).

I was feeling very proud of my son today – a manner in keeping with the “good” use of the word pride above.  We took Gregory to the local school this morning to get him registered. Our neighbour helped with the translation until we were able to communicate with one of the teachers who spoke English. She showed us around and explained the school hours, which class was held where, the bathrooms, the dining hall, etc.

She spoke with us a bit about the English class she teaches and how she encourages the kids to learn. She turned to Gregory and commented he may find the English class boring to which he replied “I won’t be bored if I get to help.”  His teacher paused and then asked him for a high five. 

I put my hand on my heart – he represented himself so well, making me proud.  When his teacher saw me do this, she winked at me – one proud mamma to another!

Thanks for sharing!

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