Herpaintedbunting's Blog

Moments of Lioness…

Posted on June 7, 2011

How do you react when you encounter unfettered arrogance?

I won’t elaborate with the street terms for this grisliest of misdemeanors but, in all seriousness, what do you do when you encounter someone with a real class act? They have rules for who they’ll socialize with and how; rules for how much of themselves they’ll expose to the world and to whom; many, many rules for engagement.

I think my DNA must have some kind of marker that makes me drawn to these kind of people. I’m rolling my eyes as I write this because they are not, not a good match for me, whether husband, date, friend, or project leader. Why? Mostly because I believe them. I take on their rules like some kind of loyal minion in a boat shot full of holes. That thing takes on water and soon I am bailing and flailing, looking for truth. Truth about myself. Truth about them. The painful part is that grappling with their labels and walls forces me to evaluate them with hard words, like rigid. legalistic. judgmental. pompous and pretentious.

The sad truth is this. I manage to expel all those words only to realize that I’ve committed the same crime as they have. That defensive, ugly-spirited victim is operating in the same spirit….merely in the opposite direction. Pride works both ways. So, it’s not a matter of me getting my DNA re-worked or avoiding Mr. Arrogant Poopypants who takes himself too seriously. It’s about me understanding my own value as a person, and quietly standing tall while he chews the theoretical fat over whether to Twitter a personal twit or to actually be a friend.

It’s actually a matter of being a life-giving person. It’s about coming in the opposite spirit. When I feel judgment and prejudice in the airwaves, I am committing here and now to walking in love and humility. I am not saying I will execute perfectly. Dear friends know well how I have failed miserably, and even retaliated in ways probably worse than the crime itself. And yet. Love covers a multitude of sins. And that’s true for both of us.

Ciao!