261. Pride

Pride is a false sense of worth that derives from something that is not organically part of your Self. It comes from Ahankara - the identification by the mind of your Self with some external thing in the Creation. It gives emphasis to the superiority of a person's status in the eyes of others. There is fear and insecurity in pride because when you aim for status and being highly esteemed and achieve it, you are automatically involved in fear of losing that status. Protection of status then appears to you to be your most important need and this creates anxiety. Pride is very different from self-respect. All respect, including self-respect, springs from knowledge and memory of the Self and your origins and home in the Self. The less you are grounded in the Self, the more imperative is the need for pride. One is proud when he identifies with the ego. The core of pride is Self-rejection.

47. Worry

Worry is the twin sister of guilt. To worry is to use up the present moment being obsessed with the future. Like guilt, worry can be used to manipulate people. This is a favourite tactic of politicians when they want to get their own way. Bullies use it as a tactic too. Worry manufactures anxiety. 99.99% of the things we worry about never happen. Great thinkers, leaders inventors are not worriers. If you worry, it steals your time and immobilises you in the present with fearful thoughts about the future. Do not waste even 1 second worrying. If you assign a €1.00 value to a second of your life, then 1 day is equivalent to €84,000. Don't waste even 1 second - you might be glad of it some day. Worry will never prevent a tragedy, only sensible precautions will do that. Train and prepare for the worst case scenario then you will have everything covered.

The only value to worries is that they can motivate you to take action regarding the issue - if you're worried about exams then get busy studying !

43. Anxiety

If you think healthy thoughts, you will be free from anxiety. Anxiety is a way of thinking. We can choose it or not.