Being proud vs being grateful

A year ago I did this emotional inventory exercise where I went through a set of questions to figure out where I am at internally. One of the questions was: what are you proud of?

This questions comes up a lot in different contexts. It is often asked in interviews, on TV, it feels like a common evaluation of one’s achievements.

Recently I read Russel Brand’s Book on addiction. Right at the very end he says, paraphrasing: If I ever feel proud of my success, I need a thorough re-evaluation. I haven’t taught myself how to speak or write. I didn’t achieve success. Success was already there. I stepped into it. So instead of being proud, I should be grateful.

Grateful and not proud.

I have always felt that achievements should be celebrated and we should be proud of our accomplishments. But is pride the right name for the emotion here? Pride brings up our ego, it makes us feel good, it makes us feel important and big. And we are none of these things.

Look at all the wonderful synonyms: joy, delight, gratification, fulfilment.

I learned about linguistic precision in 2017 and this small paragraph from Russel’s book made me re-evaluate the meaning of the word “pride” and being “proud” in different contexts.

I am proud of my country and my heritage < I am grateful for it. I am proud of my job and my role < I am grateful for it. I am proud of my wins < I am grateful for them.

It puts more emphasis on the team effort it took to get all of us here. To circumstances and environment. To pure luck. Since no achievements in the world were made without all these things.