The Poison of Pride

The Poison of Pride

Understanding How Pride Pollutes Purpose

Personal reflections from a fellow traveler.  Not AA approved literature.  Shared in the spirit of Experience, Strength, and Hope.

Pride sometimes shows up as arrogance.
More often, it disguises itself as certainty.

In recovery, I found that certainty can become dangerous.
It convinces me I already understand, already know, already see clearly.
And when that happens, I stop listening.

The Twelve Steps ask for humility not as a virtue, but as a necessity.
I cannot carry a message I believe I own.
I cannot help others if my need to be right outweighs my willingness to be present.

Pride turns guidance into control.
It shifts service into self-validation.
What begins as help quietly becomes performance.

Purpose, in recovery, is never about elevation.
It’s about alignment – and alignment is key.

When pride loosens its grip, I make room—for honesty, for patience, for another person’s experience.  Only then does service become clean again.

The work is not to lead others out of darkness—
it is to walk beside them without needing the light to shine on me.

Where have I allowed my pride to pollute my purpose?