Ego, our Foe

Sometimes however our Ego becomes who we are and we just  cannot see past it. We think we need it to fill a void. You've seen the one time beauty queen who still behaves as though she was twenty, or the do-gooder who thinks that no-one can survive without his intervention.

Ego can be that nasty, mean little voice that blinds us from our failings. Have you ever heard someone say, "it's just the way I am" as if that gives leeway for their poor behaviour?

Pixabay, the Mask

There are times when each of us have lived in regret. It could be for responding too quickly, with a habit that we've learned, and this response was not our best decision in that moment.

• Which parent does not feel shame for an outlandish reaction to their child? 
• Which one of us did not sling back an insult (at least inside our heads) at a perceived infraction toward us? 
• How often have we experienced a supervisor or CEO or perhaps a spouse who dictated because they were the “boss”. 

In each of these situations, Ego reared its ugly, mean-spirited head. Ego forced itself into a situation because of fear.

There are an endless number of ways that fear triggers our Ego. There's the fear of a supervisor who is unsure of their skills  and who prefers to “share the responsibility” of the blame. The CEO who reminds everyone of their superior training, education and hard work that is essential to the organization. And perhaps the worst of all, the household bully. The parent or child who can manipulate, scare, and threaten on a consistent basis. We all know at least one of these.

Our Ego may force us to take a Yoga pose although we will bear the consequences of sore muscles for the next week. (I know that I might have been guilty of this one more than once.) It's also forgetting to give ourselves a long enough break to recover after an injury, a loss, or a disappointment.

We feel sometimes, that we have to be the  person who's better than the rest, the one who is the exception. And in this way, our Ego is our biggest enemy.

How fear can raise our Ego's head. (Click to Tweet)

Don't let Ego's reaction change your behaviour. (Click to Tweet)


This is part 3 of the series on Ego. See It's All About the Ego, Dude and Ego, our Friend for the previous posts.

When your ego is wrapped firmly around a desire, your peace of mind and happiness are held hostage by an obsessive need to control the outcome. After enough pain and suffering, you’ll eventually get the message: If you don’t learn to surrender your will, you will surrender your peace.

Cheryl Richardson, From the Unmistakable touch of Grace