We are all Narcissists at an early stage of our lives. We all feel the most important, omnipotent and omniscient. Our parents, those mythical figures, immortal and awesomely powerful, are there only so as to protect us. Both Self and others are viewed immaturely, as idealizations. Inevitably, the inexorable processes and conflicts of life erode them and reduce the ideal into the fine dust of the real.
Disappointments follow disillusionment.
If gradual and tolerable, they yield adaptation. Narcissistic adults are the result of bitter disappointment, of radical disillusionment in their parents. They accept disappointments, setbacks, failures, criticism and disillusionment with grace and tolerance. Their self-esteem is constant and positive, not affected by outside events, no matter how severe. The common view is that we go through the stages of a linear development.