365 Ways To Wellbeing – 341st Way
“A Native American wisdom story tells of an old Cherokee who is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me.” he said to the boy. “It is terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, ego. The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.” The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?” The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed”.
-Kristin Neff, Self-compassion-
One day in September I sent the following text message to my husband: “You never guess what I realized about ego and pure conscious in both of us this morning!! This is so great! I think not until now I have a chance to grow. I can´t wait to talk with you more about it and hear your comments! This is a good thing for me, for you and for both of us!! I´m so excited!”
That was a day when I understood what ego is all about. How ego works in every one of us, how incredibly powerful and sneaky it is and what kind of personal tragedies, family tragedies and nation-wide tragedies it may cause.
This day I thought about that day in September. I realized that my enthusiasm then was justified. By acknowledging my ego that day I got the grip on it for the first time. I got my ego under my control for a minute and that´s a big thing! A thing that is definitely worth of being one of the most important wellbeing ways in my Wellbeing Challenge!
Our egos cause a lot of troubles in our everyday life and prevent us from achieving wellbeing and happiness. The ego is not the easiest concept to understand. I really don’t understand it yet very well myself either. But there’s a lot of literature about it that is helping me out. I really recommend you to start the journey to understanding your ego. I’ve just started and it will probably be a life long project to take it under my control in a long lasting way. But I see some development already and that gives me hope.
Acknowledge your ego and learn to take it under your control – It’s the key element for growth and long lasting wellbeing!
Read more about my “Wellbeing Challenge 2013 – 365 Ways To Wellbeing”.
