It’s never a good idea to be arrogant.

Arrogance puts us on pedestals, assuming superiority over others and beyond the norm. It’s easy to be arrogant when we succeed but when we act upon it, it can lead to our downfall.

I succumbed to arrogance when I was placed in the Advanced Women’s class for hula at 13. At the time I was shocked because I didn’t think I was ready for the rigor, but my teachers told me I was.

After a few months, I grew accustomed to the expectations and new teaching styles. My teachers became my hula sisters, and I improved in a way that I couldn’t in the previous class.

Many told me that “I was a better dancer” and “I was more graceful than most in the advanced class,” building up my self-esteem and confidence. At first, I didn’t let it go to my head. I was happy being chosen for such a high-level class. Then, the impending darkness took over.

I stopped practicing my notes and reviewing songs. I told my mom that I didn’t need to practice because “I could remember just by listening to the songs.”

At one point I stopped going to class because I wanted to do other things, and I knew I could catch up because of my strong memorization skills.

When I finally went to class, I was anything but worried. What could a few weeks without going to class do to my progress?

It was like cold water hitting my face. The class had learned two new, difficult songs in three weeks. I fell behind instantly. Class was once a week and two and a half hours long, limiting my time to review with the class and note-taking the steps.

I was so overwhelmed that I thought I should go back to my previous class where everything came with ease or posed little difficulty.

Despite the struggles and pressure, I somehow got through it. I asked my teachers and hula sisters for help and that made me grow even closer to them. I went back to practicing at home and I finally got back on track with the songs.

It was a significant wake-up call. Not only did I learn to humble myself but I realized that arrogance only made things twice as hard.

We are all proud of our abilities. Yet, sooner or later we may discern the extent of our arrogance, even if we’ve gone through it time and time again. As long as we recognize our arrogance and act to quell it, the cold, hard ground of reality may not be as hard as it is.