Ego

This is a HARD one for me. 

It is one that I struggle with daily.

"Switch off your ego... take a deep breath... remember that if you are easily offended, you are easily manipulated."

Yikes. 

Ego:

the part of the mind that mediates between the conscious and the unconscious and is responsible for reality testing and a sense of personal identity.

 Instead of vulnerability, people with unhealthy egos experience fear and defensiveness. “The ego works against us is when it pushes us into fear and scarcity,” said Bentley.

If Ego is at the forefront, we are unable to be vulnerable.

Without vulnerability, we cannot be our true selves.

This takes PRACTICE!

Deep breaths.

Turn OFF your ego.

Practice, practice, practice.

Ego most definitely causes me to experience fear and defensiveness.

Neither of those are good places to be!

Brene Brown says this:

“Bouncing hurt. Our ego is the part of us that cares about our status and what people think, about always being better than and always being right. I think of my ego as my inner hustler. It’s always telling me to compare, prove, please, perfect, outperform, and compete. Our inner hustlers have very little tolerance for discomfort or self-reflection. The ego doesn’t own stories or want to write new endings; it denies emotion and hates curiosity. Instead, the ego uses stories as armor and alibis. The ego has a shame-based fear of being ordinary (which is how I define narcissism). The ego says, “Feelings are for losers and weaklings.” Avoiding truth and vulnerability are critical parts of the hustle. Like all good hustlers, our egos employ crews of ruffians in case we don’t comply with their demands. Anger, blame, and avoidance are the ego’s bouncers. When we get too close to recognizing an experience as an emotional one, these three spring into action. It’s much easier to say, “I don’t give a damn,” than it is to say, “I’m hurt.” The ego likes blaming, finding fault, making excuses, inflicting payback, and lashing out, all of which are ultimate forms of self-protection. The ego is also a fan of avoidance—assuring the offender that we’re fine, pretending that it doesn’t matter, that we’re impervious. We adopt a pose of indifference or stoicism, or we deflect with humor and cynicism. Whatever. Who cares?”