Our ego is that little voice that tells us we need the right job, right house located in the right suburb and have all the right toys and just a little better than everyone else. It is the voice that gets outraged when we don’t get invited to the conference, asked to speak when we simply know we are a better speaker than the person talking. It tells us loudly, ‘but I am very important!’
I’ve learned through years of taking offence, it is much easier to treat people as you would have them treat you. Silence that voice telling you to be offended, that you are better than the next person and life will be easier. There are benefits and drawbacks to every decision taken and situation encountered. If we try to find the benefits, we are often pleasantly surprised. So you only got asked to speak for 5 minutes when others got a longer timeslot. Perhaps you didn’t get invited to the meeting at all. And now you have a lovely free afternoon! A much easier life. Being offended then sulking is exhausting but we don’t stop there, do we? We have this urgent need to tell as many people as we can how badly we’ve been treated. Our ego needs to share the love.
Sometimes our reactions become violent. Watch the News on television tonight to see wounded egos at play. A one punch in a bar, because a random person glanced at another, results in a death and a murder charge ruining two families. A road rage incident turns fatal because someone cut another stranger off. We are all so darn important, in our own opinions. The truth is we are not important at all. The lesson is that we can all be one in the universe and if we all treated each other as we would want to be treated, our wonderful world would be a nicer place.
You are no more or less important than the next person. Once you accept that fact, life becomes a whole lot easier. You don’t have to worry or be nervous about asking questions. No longer are you intimidated by people that are supposed to be better than you are. You can be yourself and how liberating is that? Try to see the good in other people, know that material possessions are just that and stop listening to that inner voice telling you daft things. Keep your ego in check.