What is the ego?

“When the ego dies, the soul awakes.” - Mahatma Gandhi

I mentioned that the Ego is the Devil within on my last blog post. We all have an ego, and it's been allowed to run unchecked for many, many years. When I say that, you may be thinking "I'm not an ego maniac" while thinking of someone who you believe IS an ego maniac.

Sorry, not sorry, to say the Ego mind has been allowed to run unchecked in just about everyone. We are taught to value and prioritize our mind and our logic. We have been trained to dismiss intuition as a nonsense. And most of us have never even been taught anything about that voice in our head.

With that said, here are some ways to identify your ego.

1. It's loud.

People often mistake the ego voice for intuition. Let's say someone gets an awareness about someone they just met - a whisper that something is off with this person. The monkey mind will immediately kick in with a story as to why that person is the way they are or perhaps will negate our intuitive awareness due to lack of 'facts' to justify it. Trust is then placed on the made up story about the person or what we can make sense of. When we get burned, intuition is then often blamed even though our intuitive whisper warned us.

2. The Ego is a meaning making machine.

It is constantly analyzing what's so and making up a meaning about it. Rather than dealing with reality - like someone didn't call us back - we deal with the meaning we put into why that person didn't call us back....even though we have no way of freaking knowing why. We only know what we know - someone didn't call. The rest is made up to justify it, and most people spend soooooo much time obsessing over these things that cannot be changed. We cannot control another's actions, nor do we ultimately know the meaning behind why someone does what they do. We can only control our own thoughts, feelings, and emotions - and when we see how hard that is, maybe we can cut others a little slack.

3. The Ego makes up stories and assumptions about what It doesn't know.

And there's a whole hell of a lot that the Ego does not know. But most of us are unaware that our minds do this, and we react to those stories and assumptions as if they are gospel truth, when they're not. Not even close. They are simply the assumptions our mind made up to make a sense of situation, using the limited data (what actually occurred) available. Those stories and assumptions are colored with our beliefs and perspectives about the world - which are usually rooted in our own insecurities.

4. It's our entire identity.

Everything we are - our family lineage, our professions, our hair color or skin color, our religion and sexual preferences, our hobbies and interests, our taste in clothes and food - literally everything we are is defined by the Ego. When in reality, we are sooooo much more than a bag of bones in a skin suit. Labels limit us and feed the Ego's need to separate and criticize.

5. The Ego thrives on negativity.

Fear about the unknown? It's usually a story or assumption our Ego mind made up about the world.

The Ego loves to judge others. To separate people into us and them. To criticize and cut down. To dominate and control. To manipulate and take advantage of others..

6. It's probably dismissing this list as you read.

That narrative that judges and dismisses what's listed here - Ego.

That mind chatter that believes all of this is ridiculous - Ego.

7.The Ego limits us.

Conclusions limit.

Questions create.

The Ego does not like questions. The Ego likes to know, and for many people - even if they don't know, they will lie and pretend they do. Why? The Ego needs to not be seen as less than or weak. Admitting ignorance for most people is a sign of weakness.

Remember what I said earlier about stories and assumptions? Those are all limitations our Ego places on our lives. It doesn't matter if other's have a different experience - or even if we've had a different experience. It will be dismissed and ignored in favor of the limiting belief.

8. It does not like to be challenged.

When people are confronted with something that defies what their Ego has decided to be true, one of two things usually happens.

The person will shut down and not continue the conversation. They will walk away, change the subject, get a drink or any of a number of ways to avoid continuing the conversation.

The person will become argumentative and attack. Whatever subject was broached will no longer be dealt with and the person will attempt to dominate the conversation by attacking the one who challenged their beliefs. Unrelated facts and beliefs will be brought in to avoid actually discussing the issue at hand.

After reading this, you might be feeling a bit discouraged, but I assure you life does not have to be this way.

You do not have to be a victim to your Ego mind. With a little awareness and practice, you can shift into powerful being you truly are - the one without limits and for whom anything is truly possible.