It's Time For War, Pt. 8: Jakob vs. Arrogance

This is part of a ten part series in which I “go to war” against a thing or group. Some of these posts are to be taken seriously; others are not. It is up to you, the reader, to differentiate between the two.

Oh, arrogance… how I cannot stand you. To be clear, I am not referring to “Arrogance”, the cologne sprayed by “The Model” Rick Martel in late 1980s/early 1990s WWF. I do not want to beat the horse of redundancy by rehashing a post from last year, but I feel there is enough material to warrant another post.

To recap last year’s post with as much brevity as possible, I believe arrogance is best defined as having a disproportionately high confidence-to-ability ratio. The world is infested by individuals who believe that everyone else is privileged to merely be in their presence. Not only do they have an obscenely high opinion of themselves, but that high opinion is generally accompanied by minimal regard for others.

Don’t get me wrong. Confidence is a good thing in and of itself. It has been the catalyst for many individuals to do many great things. However, I believe since confidence is from within, it is for within and should stay within. Aspiring to greatness is a noble thing. Believing in oneself is also a great thing. Projecting one’s self belief as a sense of superiority is not.

Maybe it’s because at some point I lost the desire to compete with others, but I simply do not get why others have such a deep-rooted desire to put themselves over, especially when it involves putting others down. I have long viewed life as a continuous battle of improvement against oneself. I see it as an athlete constantly striving to improve his or her personal best. The abilities and actions of others are out of our hands and beyond our control. Therefore, I find it pointless to look at people in terms of superiority and inferiority.

To the arrogant out there, consider this a declaration of war. I have a message for you. Get over yourselves. Your abilities may be greater than the abilities of others. Good for you! I hope it helps you sleep better at night. Ability does not afford you the unalienable right to place yourselves atop a pedestal or act as if others are beneath you. Arrogance merely provides a harder landing when you inevitably fall. Focus your confidence inward, not outward. Stop trying to be better than others. Just be better.