EGO AND ITS DANGERS

Ego is one of the worst “poisons” – it can be more lethal to our well-being than anything else.

If we allow our ego to take over, we can destroy personal relationships, working relationships and friendships.

An inflated ego has the power to make us see things differently than they actually are.   Ego is the idea that the world revolves around us – all good things that happened were meant for us, all bad things that happened were meant to wound us.

Ego pushes people away, and closes our minds – we stop listening to other people’s ideas, we become critical of thos around us, we become trapped and alone in our selfish desires.

For me, personally, ego had a devastating effect on my life.  I could not share issues I was going through with others, for fear that they would think less of me or think of me as “weak”.  As a result, I isolated, feeling very alone in the world.  I often thought I “knew everything”, when in fact I simply couldn’t admit that I knew very little.  I ignored others – my ego would not let me concede that their opinions or ideas might be better than mine.  The list of the defects my ego caused could go on and on.

What I have learned in the last six months is that my ego got in the way of living life to its fullest.  I have a lot fewer materials things now, but what I do have is serenity, peace of mind and spiritual faith that my life is on the right track.

 

Most importantly, I realize the truth of something I read:  the opposite of ego is humility – not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less.