Boasting and Bragging

Kekich Credo #91 - When someone makes a big issue about his honesty or achievements, he is probably dishonest or a failure.

When I first read this statement today the first words that came to mind were boasting and bragging.  Boasting means excessively proud and self-satisfied talk about one’s achievements or abilities. When you boast you are bragging about yourself and your accomplishments. 

People brag because they are insecure.  They want to be accepted and they work hard at weaving elaborate stories to get the admiration they crave. Bragging causes people to have exaggerated ideas about how much control they have.  It makes them see their own actions as more influential than they really are.

Someone who is overly proud and arrogant can be described as boastful.  Arrogant people are only concerned about themselves.  They are not really listening to you.  They are always looking for someone else to talk to and they will frequently interrupt the conversation. 

If you fall into the habit of bragging, you risk pushing away friends and making people hesitate before they will talk to you.  It is better to support others, share the credit for your accomplishments and stop trying to compete with others.  It will make others much more comfortable getting to know you and they will more likely become your friend.

Those who brag may appear to be confident but the constant need to tell others tales of how amazing they are is often a sign that they are not confident at all.  Truly confident people don’t brag about their lives because they don’t need to.  Confident people are modest about their accomplishments and they share praise with others.  They spend more time living their life rather than calling attention to how wonderful their life is. 

# living life abundantly    # published author   # travelling tuesdays