How often are we told that our ego is the enemy? If you run in certain circles of spiritual development and personal growth, you’ve probably heard that expression more than once, in various forms.
One of my favorite colloquialisms for this idea is one I heard at an AA meeting in Los Angeles, back in the day: “The ego is not your amigo.”
If your thinking has landed you in trouble in the past, or if you’ve experienced the pain and misery of internal conflict, it’s easy to come to this conclusion.
The question I’d like you to consider today is this: What if the ego is not only your amigo, but also a powerful ally in working with your subconscious to unlock access to the unseen world of information that lies beyond the grasp of your conscious mind?
That’s exactly what’s possible when you make your ego your friend. Let’s talk about how and why.
First, what is the ego?
If you don’t already know this, the ego is “the thinking mind.”
It’s the part of you that’s responsible for making sure your body doesn’t get eaten by lions and tigers and bears. When it comes to survival, time is of the essence. You don’t have time to discern whether that rustling in the bushes is a cute puppy or a ravenous monster with a taste for human blood. So your mind is likely to imagine the latter scenario first and react accordingly.
Your ego is also the part of you that seeks pleasure and avoids pain. This makes sense too from an evolutionary standpoint. The thinking goes something along the lines of “that feels good, so I should get more of it,” or “that feels bad, so I should get away from it.”
Your ego was designed to protect your physical and mental well-being. The problem arises when the ego gets out of control, and applies it’s protective measures in situations they don’t belong.
If you’ve ever experienced a flash of rage when someone cut you off in traffic or when someone got in your way while you had somewhere important to be, you’ve experienced the ego in full attack mode for no reason.
In that scenario, the ego projects that all kinds of terrible things will happen if you’re unable to get to your destination on time. The person in front of you isn’t just slowing you down. They’re going to get you fired. You won’t be able to pay your rent. You’ll be destitute and homeless and no one will love you. No wonder your mind screams “GET THE F*%K OUT OF MY WAY!”
Put simply: the ego projects situations in the future, and creates stories about the past. It’s the reason we as human beings have been able to transcend our place in nature and practically take over the world. When applied correctly, it’s an incredible tool.
The ego is not the enemy.
The ego is more like a misguided new hire who, upon being employed at the company, thinks that they know what’s best for the company as a whole. Fresh out of college with their new degree in “being you” they march into the organization of your being with their own ideas, and go rogue trying to make them come to fruition.
They forget that the CEO–the version of you that I would call your “Higher Self”–is truly the one in charge.
The ego came into this situation with the best intentions, and it’s only through maturity and a deeper understanding of it’s own place in the order of things that the ego becomes able to contribute it’s greatest work to your being.
The ego’s greatest work–that which it is uniquely suited to do–is to be the communication tool between your subconscious limitless self and the outside world.
When the ego learns that it makes up maybe 10% of “you” and that your subconscious self makes up 90% it goes from being your enemy, to being your greatest asset.
Your subconscious, limitless self has direct access to the collective subconscious. Some would call it God. And when your ego is able to take information from the subconscious, and channel that information into the physical world, it’s a truly beautiful thing to behold.
Today, I hope that you make friends with your Ego.
As the Founder and CEO of You, Inc. I hope that today you take action and talk to your ego about their behavior. Tell them you appreciate the hard work they’ve been doing to keep you safe and protected over the years, but that your true seat of power and consciousness lies somewhere else. The subconscious, limitless you is the boss. They are the worker. And they need to fall in line!
Tell them to get on board, and to start self-regulating when they get out of control. The first step in this process is awareness.
To start noticing when your ego is being threatened, and reacting inappropriately, your ego needs to practice observing itself. This is done in meditation.
In meditation we learn to exercise the ego’s ability to recognize a thought, and let go of it, without being dragged along from one thought to the next. We learn to sit in discomfort rather than allowing the ego to drag us around in pleasure seeking and pain avoidance behaviors. We learn to let go, and channel the unlimited, creative, all-knowing power of the collective subconscious.
Do this and your life will change in amazing ways you can’t even imagine.
All it takes to get started is one minute per day. Sit for one minute, focusing on your breath as it comes in and goes out. When thoughts arise, simply notice them, and let go. Sometimes it helps to imagine placing the thoughts into a river, where they float away.
Remember, the goal with meditation isn’t to have no thoughts at all. It’s to learn to let go of thoughts. So really, the more thoughts you have, the better!
Comment on this post and let me know how it goes. I’ll be around to answer any questions you may have.
Today, make the ego your amigo, and unlock your true potential.