The Ego has clearly shown us it's not our friend. So why do we still try to protect it?

[BaldingSoHard]

What brought you to that decision and how’d you do it?

Long story short, my sidepiece (who was clearly beneath me by every metric) dumped me for some other dude.

I was TORE UP about it for over a year. Did some really embarrassing shyt to try to get her back (unsuccessfully). It was bad. I know.... I know...

At one point, I was talking to my boy about it and he was tired of hearing about it and said, "You know you don't really want that bytch and this is just your ego fukking with you, right?"

It was an moment because it was obvious to everyone else but me. That's the whole reason ego is shyt, because it clouds our judgement; so I decided I didn't want it anymore. I'm not saying I was able to shed it overnight, but over the course of a few months, I adopted a "fukk it" attitude towards most things in life.

It's been ever since.

 

[Stir Fry]

i like how many people have mentioned intuition prevailing over ego in this thread.

If you know, you know

 

[Easy-E]

Exactly, but what people don't seem to understand is that nobody cares about such announcements, you are nobody, we all are nobody, not in an insulting sense, but generally less significant than how we view ourselves but people have a difficult time accepting such. Which makes for a weird dichotomy because if you're an egoist then you're the center of your perceptible universe anyway, so why does it matter how other people view you when you've already decided you're the most important?

Once you become self-aware you can instantly tell whether or not somebody is speaking has asked themselves "Will anybody care about this?" "Do I have any credentials to speak on this topic?" "Does this contradict my actions?" "Would I be saying this if it applied to me?"

We're all brands, nowadays.

 

[One]

I agree, but devil's advocate.

You cared enough to speak on it so people do care.

Being "above it all" is a manifestation of ego as well.

To posture as though one has transcended the human condition is more egoistic than speaking on haters on IG.

Agree or disagree?

I agree with the point you made about the exalted position indicating ego, but can't say absolutely because it still leaves me with a couple questions.

Does speaking disregard really equate to care or concern? That would mean anything you don't care about but know about would just have to go consciously unmentioned right? I want to hear you shed more on what you mean by posturing as though one has transcended the human condition.

 

[Json]

You can never totally get rid of the ego, that's impossible. But you can get better, a lot better, at keeping it in check.

I'm working on this since my teenage years and even if it's not easy, I'm better at it everyday. Letting things go. Anger. Pain. Resentment. Understanding how people's perceptions of me are just that: perceptions and how they can't hurt me but only the image of myself I built for the world to see.

I realize everyday I have so much to learn that's crazy

This is what I realized people were talking about becoming more confident after 30. It's not that you become more confident, but a lot of your 20s is satisfying your ego by placating others opinions. Buy a house, live in this city or that, or marry this kind of girl/guy.That's why social media is so addictive to younger people. Once your 20s play out you see how many of those decisions didn't make you happy as an individual. It just made others happy so you took joy in it.

After 30, the divorces start. Houses get sold, kids aren't the cute silent babies they were. Start spending the next 30 years(hopefully) trying to figure out what makes you happy without the need for validation to your ego.

 

[TLR Is Mental Poison]

Y’all giving ego a bad name in here. If you don’t have at least a little bit of it, people will walk all over you. It’s like a professional athlete who knows he is the best seeing inferior players making more money than him. That athlete doesn’t need more money, but his ego is telling him that since he is the best, he should be paid like the best. When they holdout for more money, a lot of times they get what they want. Putting his ego aside would have resulted in him making less than his market value.

Knowing your worth is different from leading by ego.

Ego is the kind of shyt that makes a wack player act out for not being treated like a good one. It can blind you to any truth that doesn't put you in the front of the line.

 

[blase_chic]

Keep the ego in check or else the ego will dominate you. Meditation helps a lot with this but you know, its easier said than done.

Meditation is annoying but I still do it a few times per week.

It helps to open up that space between the mind and the I AM soul or whatever you want to call it and remind me that I am not my thoughts. I am not my emotions. If I can observe them, it goes without saying that there is a watcher. The watcher has always been there and is completely unmoved by our day to day drama. But that's another story.

After practicing meditation for a while, you start to have other so called super natural experiences like lucid dreaming or psychic revelations that remind us that this earth experience is just that. An experience.

Once you have gained this knowledge first hand and not based off of what some spiritual guru tries to convey, fear or ego
starts to fade away. It's like damn other realms exist and I've only just scratched the surface.

What happenes beyond that, I haven't figured out yet. But it feels good and natural not letting the ego control me like it's done most my life. Feels like being a kid all over again

 

[Listen]

“ In the war of the ego, the loser always wins.” - Buddhist saying

I have my moments, but I also am a practitioner of leaving things I can’t control alone.....and I learned that the hard way.

Successful maneuvering around people is to love yourself enough to allow people to see who you are and be confident in that.

Yet that also means you need to be self reflective and self aware and honest with yourself about your weaknesses. When you own those, it’s hard to be blindsided by peoples judgement of you.

Water off my back brehs.

 

[At30wecashout]

Part of my ego is always the comeback story. I take L's JUST to come out stronger and have something to gloat over. My ego encourages growth and experimentation, but stresses overcoming that shyt above all else.

It's never been a problem for me. I'm humble when it benefits me, and egotistical for benefits or shyts and giggles. Day to day things don't effect me much so I play whatever character leads to the best results or most entertainment at that point.

 

[HoloGraphic]

Thanks for this breh. Ive seen my ego play out situations and I look at them now like

My egos taught mw the value of self, patience amd persistence in retrospect.

 

[MischievousMonkey]

We're all brands, nowadays.

“ In the war of the ego, the loser always wins.” - Buddhist saying

I have my moments, but I also am a practitioner of leaving things I can’t control alone.....and I learned that the hard way.

Successful maneuvering around people is to love yourself enough to allow people to see who you are and be confident in that.

Yet that also means you need to be self reflective and self aware and honest with yourself about your weaknesses. When you own those, it’s hard to be blindsided by peoples judgement of you.

Water off my back brehs.

 

[Crayola Coyote]

I’m keeping my ego. Not gonna simp, kiss ass or submit. FOH

 

[Rev Leon Lonnie Love]

I think the reason we protect our ego is that it serves us as an anchor. It's kind of like an "identity". Sometimes i think that there's no such thing as a true identity. We will always morph into what we need to become to survive. But if someone successfully challenges who we are, challenges the "identity" we've grown comfortable with, the identity that we feel has worked for us for so long, that means we gotta find a new identity quickly which is painful. So we have a tendency to fiercely protect our ego to avoid the pain.

View media item 17272:wowjb:

 

[Complexion]

The ego is a receptor for voice of the evil spirit.......

Share the thoughts and experiences that got you to making that statement breh, genuinely interested.

 

[-deleted-]

This is what I realized people were talking about becoming more confident after 30. It's not that you become more confident, but a lot of your 20s is satisfying your ego by placating others opinions. Buy a house, live in this city or that, or marry this kind of girl/guy.That's why social media is so addictive to younger people. Once your 20s play out you see how many of those decisions didn't make you happy as an individual. It just made others happy so you took joy in it.

After 30, the divorces start. Houses get sold, kids aren't the cute silent babies they were. Start spending the next 30 years(hopefully) trying to figure out what makes you happy without the need for validation to your ego.

Don’t anyone skip this post