Humility, Confidence, and Arrogance

Confidence is a wonderful attribute to have. It truly is, and I wish everyone were able to evaluate themselves with positivity. Reflecting confidence can be mistaken for arrogance, and worse yet, some people humble themselves in order to placate the masses. However, Confidence and Arrogance are two completely different things. Confidence is a good thing while Arrogance is a bad thing. Let's examine shall we.

Definitions:

arrogance - overbearing pride evidenced by a superior manner toward inferiors
Confidence - belief in one's own abilities; self-assurance
humility - a lack of false pride

paraphrased definitions from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/

Humility

Being humble does not have to mean that you think you are lower than dirt. A lot of religions preach this, and it bugs me. Humble simply means that you know what your limitations are. For example: Lets say I can stand on my head, but I can't stand on my hands. I'm confident that I can stand on my head, but I'm humble enough to know that I can't stand on my hands. If I were an arrogant person, I would think anyone who can't stand on their head is inferior to me.

Humility is an AWESOME trait because it allows a person to make a checklist of things they need to work on. Nobody is perfect, and those that know where their imperfections lie can eliminate bad behaviors or practices one by one. For practices that people are just bad at, they can avoid them. For example, I'm bad at fashion. No seriously. Thank God I have 4 sisters because all I need is cloth to cover myself with.

Confidence

Confidence is understanding what your good at. At first glance that would seem to be an antonym of Humility, but nothing could be further from the truth. Rather than being opposites, Confidence and Humility work hand in hand. A confident person usually knows what they are good, and bad at. Imagine a fighter pilot. They are only the coolest breed ever to walk the planet.

Arrogance Arrogant people contrast confident people because they focus only on their strengths and disregard their weaknesses. An arrogant person is often insecure, and therefore pushes everything good about them on everyone else.

Confusion

Don't you hate that all knowing know it all. They are constantly telling you how things are or are supposed to be. They always know what the correct course of action is. Is this person confident or arrogant? Confident people have an opinion, and are easier to approach to get it. Arrogant people on the other hand will shove their opinion down your throat. In truth, it's all about insecurities.

Arrogant people view other people as betters or lessers. "I have this, this, and this, and therefore I am better than you." or "You have this, this, and this, and therefore you are better than me." The grass is always greener, and the arrogant and insecure will fight to have the greener grass. If that means mowing the neighbors lawn to make it less green, then so be it.

Confident people on the other hand view other people as other people. They know what they are good at, and excel at it. Meanwhile they can also support and encourage others to be at the top of their game as well. A confident person does not have to stand on other people in order to put themselves on top.

Humility is often a value taught to discourage arrogance. Confident people have humility, while arrogant people do not have it. An arrogant person always strives to be the better, and will hurt anyone who they perceive to be the better. If they can't hurt them, then they will worship them, and scheme until they can hurt them.