How does one be proud without seeming braggy? (Mysti)

Hmmm . . . I am not sure how to answer Julia Cameron's prompt. So I reviewed the lists of those of you who have already posted, as well as Julia's own list, and this helped me a bit.
Let's see if I can come up with ten things.

1-4. I am proud of going back to college--all four times--so I am multiplying this by four!
2-4. I am proud of giving birth to a healthy child--at home, underwater, all three times!
5-6. I am proud of eating right and exercising--most of the time!
7. I am proud of being a teacher--and inspiring others as often as lightning strikes.
8. I am proud of not giving up on life when my husband left me for his secretary.
9. I am proud of being a writer.
10. I am proud of being unselfish--as fleeting as these moments may be!
11. I am proud of standing up against injustice--as this seems to be what I was born to do (as revealed to me by recurrent dreams--"to give voice to the voiceless" I am told).


Last night in my Brit Lit class we had a very interesting discussion regarding the characteristics of the best human beings of all time. We threw around names like Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Ghandhi, and Bishop Tutu, and decided that the number one quality in a human being of excellence is their capacity for selflessness. Eric-in-the-back-row even said that selfishness is the root of all sin. Hmmm . . . I wondered if I believed this--or if I could think of an exception to it--and I didn't come up with one.

I used to think that I wanted my children to grow up and be happy and secure and comfortable. Then one semester when writing along with my students about my deepest dreams, I realized that there was something so much more I wanted for them--I wanted them to be compassionate human beings, capable of responding to the needs of others and caring enough to try to address the injustices of the world. In short, I wanted them to be like the person I am trying to become.

Nearly everyone is familiar with the initials "w.w.j.d."--"what would Jesus do?," but last night in our class discussion, I realized that my children often seem to live by the following acronym: "w.w.b.s.d."--"What would Bart Simpson do?" Apparently, Jesus and Bart are polar opposites--Jesus being incapable of selfishness, and Bart unfamiliar with selflessness.

I remember an episode of Friends where Chandler tells Phoebe that there is no such thing as a selfless act because doing one makes you feel better about yourself--hence you get something out of it! And certainly I know people from the church of my childhood who volunteer to help others in the hopes that it will raise their status in the community or secure them a Lazy-boy recliner on the right hand of God with a perpetual supply of popcorn. And working in a soup kitchen or even shingling a roof for Habitat for Humanity can reek of paternalism in the sense that we feel superior to those we help. Jeeze--what would Jesus do if he were here right now? Would he be blogging with the rest of us? Would he ever laugh outloud?

Perhaps what I am most proud of is my quest to better myself--to let go of my lower self that can be distracted by things and pleasures--and to embrace the part of me where patience comes effortlessly, tolerance tastes like a frozen yogurt treat, and love is a liquid that joins everyone. Yes, I am proud that I do not give up on anyone--my students, my children, my colleagues . . . and myself.