Hi, please bare with me here, and take my whole response as the answer to the Q.
Let us rephrase your question "How to get rid of arrogance?". First, let me start by saying that pride is not a bad thing, for example, we are proud of our country, we are proud of our work, of our achievements, etc.
Across the world we all know deep inside that arrogance is not a good characteristic.Nevertheless, we are all guilty of it but the levels differ from one person to another. Some say it out loud, others hear it in their mind. As long as we ignore and don't act upon these thoughts, then we are half way out of this problem. We need to fix it immediately the minute we start saying it out loud, or making bad actions based on such thoughts, so How to remove arrogance from our system? Read the below:
i. Watch this video and just think how small we really are.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17jymDn0W6U ii. Remember that nobody can stay on top forever. The most powerful, richest, most influential and most popular did not last forever; the strongest and toughest people have helplessly lain in bed because of a fever or a bad headache. So just because you have something better than me, trust that it is not going to last, so be thankful for what you have and share the gifts that were granted to you.
iii. The Creator is just and fair. We are all given the same equal amount of gifts. Let us say that there are 24 points given to each person. These points are granted to us all.
The distribution however is different. Let us say that the main keys to happiness are:
A. Wealth. B. Education. C. Good looks & Health. D. Good family & spouse. E.. Good children. F. Job security.
The distribution of 24 points will be divided on the 6 categories in a certain order. You for e.g. will have A.4, B.2, C.4, D.6, E.5, F.3. I will have: A.2, B.6, C.2, D.7, E.3, F.4. Tom will have A.3, B.3, C.3, D.4, E.5, F.6.
You see, we maybe better than Tom in D, but we fail to notice that he beats us in F’s score.
So because we don’t know Tom well, we don’t know where his highest points are placed.
iv. Always be thankful for what u have and cherish it, it eventually will not last. Remember what you have is a gift, a test and a responsibility and it's up tp up to determine how to handle it and what you will do with it.
v. Life experience helps in developing humility.
vi. Working with non-profit organizations at your spare time, like helping the orphans, the homeless or disabled children will help. You will only realize how fortunate you are only when you see those who live in deprivation, those who were not lucky enough to be in your shoes.
vii. Giving in anyway really help, sponsoring an orphan financially, feeding the poor, and providing education to the needy in something you are good at..etc will certainly help. In Gibran's words "You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give"
viii. In closing, we could only overcome arrogance if we could reach the state of admitting that there are people who are more talented, skilled and gifted than we are on certain levels. But it's a very hard thing to see...and it needs a lot of insight and acceptance of others...striking the balance between having self-esteem and being humble is the key.
One very overwhelming thought came to me while thinking...what do you think of yourself when you kneel with your forehead on the ground before God when praying. The fact that you are doing that at least 5 times a day, asking for mercy and forgiveness, you obviously can tell that we are so small, and at that moment our pride is eliminated because we submitted to The One and only, The Creator.
How small does this make you feel and how powerful and merciful God can be?
Hope all that was mentioned was helpful.