I just caught myself admiring my name in a groupchat message. I think I have a subtle narcissism, and not just for that reason.
A friend group that I'm in was almost a cult for a while. Ridiculous stuff, we'd all be so happy, constant drug and alcohol use, and copious amounts of praise flowed my way. Too much. I'm a fairly charismatic guy, and I do try to encourage people a lot, and I suppose it just led to that. I became like weirdly addicted to that recognition. I knew it was going to my head, but I liked it too much. So I'd associate with these people every single day for months. In the beginning it was all ecstasy and positivity, but resentment grew and the shine of a new friend group wore off. People left one by one, I wanted more and more when I had already gotten constant ubiquitous appreciation. I even got a little paranoid. There was a guy who was trying to compete with me for my "spot", but not overtly. We were best friends and quite similar, so he was kind of jealous. Eventually I tried to flex my power and trash his reputation to everyone, and it worked, but mostly just by fragmenting what was left of the group aside from a few of us. We've since made up, gotten better, and people are now friendly again, but it was a weird ride. Definitely a dark and trying time. Interesting though.
I also had this girlfriend who I broke up with become obsessed with me to the point of restraining order.
And these experiences, all they do is feed my ego. I just can't get over how cool I think I am anymore. I really want someone to call me out in real life. To point out how much of an egocentric person I became. Because I can't do it myself.
How do I move past this? I suppose being aware of it is a good step, but I don't want to be this self-obsessed. I want to look outwards. I want to get out of my head and be humbled.