In preparation for the release of Star Wars Episode VII - The Force Awakens, today (my day off), I re-watched episodes I-III. They are such fascinating films for so many reasons, but one of the things I appreciated most about them is the abundance of wisdom found in its' many "tweetable lines!"

Master Yoda definitely is the wisest and most tweetable of all the characters, but a line by Count Dooku at the very beginning of Episode III was particularly insightful. In speaking to Anakin Skywalker just before their fight, he says:

Twice the pride, double the fall.

This line is so rich with both tremendous wisdom and warning.

The wisdom in the line is that prideful people fall. The warning in the line is that the more pride you have, the harder your fall will be.

It was absolutely devastating to see Anakin's pride, slowly but surely, lead to his demise. Though in his mind he was making his decisions for the peace of the Republic and the love of his wife, it was ultimately his selfish pride that drove his decision making process.

Though Star Wars is just a movie, the way it represented how the power of pride can lead to a person's destruction is reality. Everyday we see men and women in sports, politics, business, Hollywood, and in our own workplaces and families have their lives fall apart as a result of pride.

Unfortunately, these films leave me with more questions about pride than they give me answers. But, they are questions that, for my own life and for the lives of the people I love, I am determined to discover the answers to. These questions include:

What makes pride so powerful?
How can one avoid the pitfall of pride?
Why is pride so hard to see in our own lives?
Why does pride cause us to so easily distort reality?
Why can't we, even when we get the sense that we should, stop ourselves from proceeding down the path of pride?

Not only do I look forward to sharing some of the answers I come up with to these questions with you in upcoming blog posts, but I also look for to writing a "Star Wars Post" after re-watching episodes IV-VI! But until then, may the force be with you!