The ego is the most powerful silent influencer in our lives. It influences our attitudes and our decisions. The ego attaches itself to causes that resonate with itself and this identity built over many years of influencers.
What is the ego? It is the basic entity of who we are as a person and like it or not, everyone is fighting for the preservation of the ego. The ego is harbor of our characteristics and no matter what anyone says, everyone is a slave to it.
If we take all of the different personal characteristics that exist in the world that include all of the vices and dependencies, it is all connected to preserving our ego.
The ego is what causes a cat defend itself against attack. The ego is what causes a mother defend her children. The ego is what causes people to achieve great things. The ego is often what deceives us into believing that poor behavior is okay.
I was having a conversation the other day about the topic of greed. That one of the problems in the world is that there are some really greedy people whose only motivator is more money and they will do anything to get it.
Greed is the ego’s need for money to support its existence. Therefore, any reduction of money in the existence of the ego is like cutting off the part of a person’s body. Loss is unacceptable to the ego that is fueled by money and possessions.
The key point here is that money isn’t the problem at all. You can substitute money for food, love, drugs, wellness, fame, religion or any other pursuit that a person is likely to follow. Whatever your ego identifies with becomes a vice because the ego cannot live without it.
Wanting, needing and even giving are all functions of the ego in our lives.
When you look at the way people dress or groom themselves it is a way of looking at their ego. All of the beards, the make up, the fashions and hairstyles are all outward expressions of the ego.
The question is, can you give up and surrender that which you are attached to or is your ego so strong that giving it up would be painful to you?
It is difficult to hold on to nothing. We have to have something to believe in. So, we chose things that makes us feel better, makes our ego feel better.
When examining your own life it is a valid question to ask, “How is my ego determining the course of my life?”
Fear is a function of the ego. The fear of loss is devastating to the ego. Fear is a means to protect the ego. It is the learned habits of the mind.
The thing is, not having an ego is not normal. You can only give up so much of yourself until there is finally nothing left to surrender. Then your ego is gone. Is that a good thing?
No, I don’t think it is a good thing.
We are either a person who stands for something or our lives have no meaning at all. Someone can come and kill us and we say, that is okay, I am egoless and so I am not losing anything when I die.
When we continually give up what our ego needs, we lose energy and our life force wanes away.
When we evaluate our lives in terms of the health of our ego, we are taking a good look at who we are and what we are doing.
People say greed is a bad characteristic to possess, but is giving away what you have good too? When giving for charity, nobody ever gives up all they have. Nobody expects it, because the charity needs the goose that lays the golden eggs.
So, greed isn’t a problem at all unless it hurts other people. Striving to have more money isn’t evil, it is healthy. The ego wants what it wants and you won’t be happy until it is happy and it can never get enough because less is losing part of itself.
In tennis, a friend told me that you can’t concede a single point, no matter how far ahead you are in a match. Life is much the same way. It is not good to concede a single thing when it comes to your life’s goals, because when you do you are stripping your ego of something, and it continues until you just give everything you are away and have nothing left to give.
Whether we like it or not, we serve our ego. Preserving your ego with all of its entrapments is what we do on a daily basis and we must, because if we don’t we disappear into nothingness.