Braggarts.
Don’t you just love them?
Before going into braggarts, let’s make it clear that there is nothing wrong with being proud of something important.
Things that you have won or nurtured on the hard road of life.
Such as a child who has done well at school or university. A child who has a good job and is working hard.
Or, lots of small accomplishments, such as making crafts, cooking good meals, growing a beautiful garden, giving anonymously to charities.
Yes, one could say that this is also egotistical. But as long as they are small, meaningful things, it’s alright. You can’t be completely faceless.
Braggarts are a different story.
These are the people who tell you how much money they are earning, the size of their investments, the value of their property.
They tell you about their property’s view being the best in the world, that the alcohol they drink is the best, that the car they drive is like no other.
It just goes on and on and on.
Eventually one just gets sick and tired of all of this.
It‘s best to simply ignore them and get on with your own life.
This bragging increases with age and the crumbling economy. Some who have lived off other people’s money are now smug. They believe they have everything and are only too eager to let you know.
It’s sad.
But there is an upside to all this bragging. It makes you think how important being humble is.
Humbling yourself is a virtue. If people want to brag, then let them. It has nothing to do with you. It’s far better to use their bragging as a lesson in life to be humble.
It also cautions you not to brag about yourself or say anything that could be construed as bragging.
That’s why they say it’s better to tell people about your problems, your worries, your concerns, than to tell them about your accomplishments.
An Australian who lived most of his life in South Africa used to say when he was younger that jealousy gets you everywhere. He probably meant that jealousy is a motivator, something to drive you and spur you on.
But talking about the things that are going right in your life only makes people resent you.
The short answer to dealing with braggarts is to ignore their behaviour and learn a valuable lesson from them.
