Today I realized something profound, there is a single dreaded virus that when it affects us we are doomed.

The virus is arrogance.

Those who suffer from this virus are many, for multiple reasons, but the symptoms are like one psychologist told me of the effects of holding a grudge, “like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die.”

In the Jewish mysticism work Tanya, anger is traced to arrogance, for the truly low person doesn’t feel as their pride was tarnished.

The more grand we see ourselves, the less we are able to cope with reality that doesn’t see us in such a light.

Furthermore we are bound to become jealous of others that have more than us both spiritually, mentally, psychologically and monetarily, for it seems unjust to us that a person as noble as oneself should not have, when another person of lower or even equal standing does.

We find arrogance by people who perceive themselves successful, influential, powerful and ironically by those who delude themselves into delusions of grandeur, as my father quoted legends in their own minds – as a compensatory psychological mechanism for low self esteem.

So how does one rid oneself of this virus, the answer is exceptionally exceptionally difficult, but ultimately by realizing that we are not successful, influential, powerful for all success, all influence, all power comes from God and while we may be used by God for success influence power we find that, never mind Emperors but Empires rise and fall and certainly individuals, furthermore if we suffer from low self esteem we should realize that our essence is God himself, the essence of everything, certainly a (Jewish) soul.