How Your Ego Deceives You
Since being released from much of my ego’s daily noise (meaning the constant chatter and stories I heard in my head that I assumed was the real “me”) a peace has been established though its balance is completely up to me. My ego used to be the one who spoke for me, defended me, and always tried to convince me that I was right and others were wrong. There were very few times my ego apologized, and when it did, I remember walking away thinking that I had somehow gained the upper hand, which is still the ego. But a small part of me was never comfortable with that way of being. There was a deep knowing, a tiny, tiny embryo of a voice that said I could be feeling better, I could have it better, and I was better than I believed. It was the voice I had heard more clearly as a child.
Our egos build our defenses and have a stance about everything; church, God, friends, family, country, politics, education, the weather. To the ego it’s all about separating us from others and convincing us that we are simply powerless humans. This has created a habitual pattern within our society of us focusing on and drawing to us that which we don’t want.
Great scientists have agreed that we live within an energy matrix where positive and negative charges are all there that exists. Our brains are conductors of energy and thoughts are either negative in charge or positive in charge. When we become angry in a situation, our ego goes into a defense mode and starts to launch negatively charged thoughts. If you are angry enough (which sends out some serious negative charges) you could end up with a consequence that reminds you every day of your actions from that situation. Perhaps the best way to sum that up would be to say your ego is your negatively charged thoughts and your essence is your positively charged thoughts.
The ego is not confident – you can build it up and tear it down in the same day. The ego is never satisfied with us, and for some people, their ego is constantly putting them down. When you hear, ” I am an idiot for doing that,” that voice is not you. But since it’s development at an early age the ego has convinced you that you are being represented fairly. The truth is that it is habitually keeping your confidence at a low vibration drawing to you more situations that reinforce low self-esteem. Your ego is not your friend – it is the great deceiver.
What does it feel like to not be attached to the ego? It’s really about a quieting of the mind, and the eventual loss of feelings of dread and disappointment. The more you allow yourself to just be, slowly dropping away everything you used to value thinking about, the more you will be in touch with your true self, and listening less to your ego. That means fewer labels, stories, pride, resistance, and no more negative thoughts. You will not disappear if you come to the conclusion that your ego is one sided and negative in charge. Instead you will begin to come back into awareness of your true self, which is positive, loving life, motivated, loving, kind, and compassionate.
Your ego is not your friend. Your ego wants to distract you from how things really are, which are eternal and filled with love. The ego wants you to stay in the past or concern yourself about the future. The ego is not comfortable in the here and now. If you have tried previously to ‘live in the moment’ but failed, it was your ego that caused you to fail. Recognizing the ego for what it is – a false, fear-based self, will allow you to pull your life back into the simplicity and serenity of the moment. Every spiritual and personal development leader that I know of uses daily meditation to maintain awareness of and control over the ego. Meditation as a practice of singular focus and training the mind to be quiet is the quickest way to gain control over your ego and allow peace and tranquility into your life.
July 23rd, 2010 at 5:46 am
I really like your post and writing style. Clear and informative this gives it right as it is. You know a lot of stuff! Well done
August 14th, 2010 at 10:36 am
Anne,
It is funny that even though I ‘know’ this and fell into a ’spiritual’ journey…..a ‘wonderful’ journey a few years ago….studying with Deepak Chopra and also reading John Sarno’s books. As I have been ’surprisingly’ in a deep and major depression for over a year now……Also, in addition to chronic neck pain and now….’all over pain’…..Also, taking medication now…..*something I thought I would NEVER do…..It is with your words that I remember with absolute certainty that God and The Universe want to take me to a deeper level. And, perhaps, I have not been listening enough or that the shift of awareness between my true self and ‘ego’ has become blurred even more. I don’t know what happened or ‘how’….except that it is MY journey and by ‘fighting’ it……will get me no where…..My normally strong and flexible body is simply breaking down….because the Universe (I think) wants me to FINALLY SURRENDER to meditation. The one thing that continues to elude me. I’ve had so much insight and spirt awakening…..but for whatever reason…I ‘won’t’ meditate. I believe where I am at ‘now’ is not about understanding or accepting my ’shadows’…..that is easy……What is ‘hard’ is accepting my greatness and ‘the good’…….But, I am grateful for this ‘pain’……it is unfamiliar and humbling. But, I am grateful because without ‘pain’……we would die……Now, what I MUST ‘get to’…..is the ’suffering’ or why I am HOLDING on to the pain??? I also ‘feel’ that this place I am in…..is the last really big place before I am ‘free’…..I truly believe and know that. Thank you for your article…..one feels like a ‘crazy’ person sometimes when discussing this or trying to find ‘help’ in this way. I will order your books.
August 14th, 2010 at 11:16 am
Hi Margo,
Thanks for the nice note. Every day I still struggle with taking the time to meditate, even though I was recently guided to meditate/read spiritually uplifting works 4 yrs/day, work 4 hours each day, and be in nature exercising 4 hours/day. Wow! 4 hours dedicated to my spiritual path?? I know I need it, but have not yet ’scheduled’ it so it is kinda random right now, BUT I can tell you unequivocally that the days that I take even 15 minutes in the morning to meditate, I am a different person. I can find my ‘bliss’, connect to it, and maintain it pretty much for the whole day. If it starts to slip, another 15-30 minutes meditating or being quiet in nature feeling the vibration of my inner body will do the trick. Try this: go to youtube, and type in ‘meditation’ and start watching some of the things on there. find ones that are actual guided meditations, drag your laptop into a comfortable room, and meditate as long as the video lasts. There is some good stuff on there and you will soon find your favorites. If you find it hard to meditate in the morning, force yourself to get up 1/2 hr earlier than you usually would, get out of bed, find a chair or sit on the floor and get an inspiration video playing, close your eyes and go for it! you will be blissful that you did! ~anne