Hubris, Hatei, Nemesis, Tisis

In ancient Greece, in line with the primary goal of one knowing himself and finding harmony and balance, Hubris (Ύβρις) was considered a major unethical act. One committed Hubris when he arrogantly overestimated his abilities or strength, defied his mortal nature and other weaknesses, and used his power to humiliate his victim(s) for personal gratification. The Gods would then send to the one committing Hubris the Hatei (Άτη) which meant the blinding of the mind. Hatei looks surprisingly similar and fits the modern day concept of “hate” (although I could not find any such translation references in Greek or English). Hatei would then make the one committing Hubris to indulge into more of such acts until he would make a major foolishness or mistake. Such a mistake would cause Nemesis, the rage and revenge of the Gods. The Nemesis would then result in the Tisis (Τίσις), the punishment and the destruction of the one committing Hubris. 

So, if despite your self-confidence things do not work out as you want them to, think about whether you have been committing Hubris.

Alternatively, just watch Steve Job’s 2005 graduation ceremony speech at Stanford: You cannot connect the dots into the future, drop in the things that attract your curiosity, try to find what you love in work and relationships, keep looking don’t settle, do not loose faith, remember that you are going to die, do not live someone else’s life, stay hungry stay foolish. A word of caution though: Dropping out of college may not be the best thing for most of the people.