According to DigoPaul, the verb boast refers to boasting (pomp, ostentation). Whoever boasts, in this way, boasts of or for something. For example: “I don’t want to brag, but the boss congratulated me on my project”, “Without boasting, the experienced striker reviewed his achievements and considered that he deserves a chance on the team”, “Can you stop boasting? After all, we’ve done nothing important… “.
Let us suppose that the president of a country aspires to be reelected in his office. At the end of the electoral campaign, he offers a speech to thousands of followers: “In my four years of administration, we have built fourteen hospitals and sixty schools. Furthermore, we managed to reduce the unemployment rate to 3% and managed to establish important commercial agreements with foreign partners. The external debt, on the other hand, is already history: we have paid all the creditors ”. Hearing the speech, many people may consider that the president set about boasting about his accomplishments to seduce voters.
Boasting is often seen as a self-centered or presumptuous act. A young businessman can flaunt his fortune by driving luxury cars, photographing himself in his mansion, and inviting journalists to accompany him around the world on leisure travel. For most people, these behaviors are condemnable from an ethical point of view.
Such an attitude is not only considered negative, but also generates negative responses. One of the most common reasons for this repercussion is envy: if we do nothing more than boast of our achievements and belongings, it is quite likely that more than one person feels bad for not having all that, which creates being in inferior conditions, and that is why you decide to harm us directly or indirectly.
In this sense, we can say that the term bragging is synonymous with showing off in a conceited way, just other words that describe negative behaviors that are difficult to assimilate by those who witness or receive them. This does not mean that we should consider envy as an acceptable or justifiable feeling; on the contrary, we are dealing with a case of two reprehensible acts, one that leads to the other.
Returning to the example of the politician, we see that the act of boasting does not have the same negative nuances as that of the young businessman, although in both cases the procedure is questionable: the first tries to manipulate citizens with statistical data that does not always reflect reality., to get your votes, instead of focusing on what you really intend to do if you are reelected; the second, for his part, shows others his luxuries instead of presenting himself as he really is, of making his person known, and then he receives hatred and envy.
Whoever has achieved various achievements but does not boast is a humble subject. A singer who sells millions of records and fills stadiums around the world, when asked by the press about his success, can simply thank fans and highlight the importance of his team.
It is important to note that it is always possible to avoid boasting and opt for humility, even though we are tempted by everyone knowing how well we have done things, how much we have harvested in life or what valuables we have bought.
Just as it is necessary to contemplate the existence of fear to define courage, perhaps we should also accept our tendency to ostentation to value the decision not to: in the face of a fire, someone who risks his life to save another is brave as soon as he faces his fear of dying in the flames; In the same way, we can speak of humility insofar as it arises as a result of an internal struggle against the need to boast.
