Let’s Talk About the Ego
Let’s talk about the Ego. What exactly is the Ego? Traditionally the Ego is defined as the “I” of the self. The derivative of the word Ego means “I” in Latin. The word Ego was first brought to the general public by Sigmund Freud, a noted psychologist in the early 20th Century. Freud set forth the theory that the Ego is the place wherein lies the organized part of the personality structure that includes defensive, perceptual, intellectual-cognitive, and executive functions. Conscious awareness resides in the Ego, although not all of the operations of the Ego are conscious.
I would argue that Freud was onto something. When I think of the Ego in these terms I can relate to the organized part of my personality that does include perception, intellect, and defensiveness. And, if I am working with my authentic self, I also admit that there is a part of me that simply reacts on a subconscious level. I can feel something in the pit of my stomach and then BAM! I say or do something that I can’t believe that I said or did - be it right, wrong, true or false.
The Ego is complex. It is the conduit from our divine self to our human self. We all are divine souls having a human experience, and as such there must be that place within each of us that the information from our human world and our divine world collide. That world is the Ego.
What I am sure of is that phrases such as “egotistical” and “has a big ego” are not applicable here. What I am speaking of is our self-talk. The voices that go on in our heads that remind us every day of how small, how unimportant and insignificant we are. This is the Ego that I am speaking of. This is the Ego that needs to be silenced. This is the Ego that needs to be redirected.
But the Ego, because it is of the Human self, does not want to be silenced or redirected. The Ego is one of the many severe challenges we have living this human life. But it can be tamed, to not come around to plague us each and every moment. We do have the power to access our divine self. As the Nazarene said “Satan, be gone!”
I will close with a simple story from my own life. I was driving down the road one morning and I realized about 5 minutes away from my work place that I had forgotten my phone (God knows we have all been there!) and then the Ego driven self-talk started. You know, if you weren’t so hurried in the morning you would not have forgotten your phone! If you would just get up a little earlier you would not have forgotten your phone! In fact, if you just got out of bed at 5:00 instead of 5:30 you would not have forgotten your phone! If you just got up at 4:30 you might actually be the person that you should be! Yikes what a burden! If the voice in my head would have been a real person, I would have pulled over on the side of the road and kicked them out of my car!! That’s how evolved I am ( or not!)
Love and Light to All of You –
Cyndi
