Blog, Ego as A Teammate

THE EGO

“I DIDN’T TRANSCEND MY EGO,

WE BECAME TEAMMATES” 

–Alan Watts

     At ITC, we love this quote from Mr. Watts for many different reasons.  The first one being obvious, we can never get rid of our ego. When you come across an individual who is telling you they do not have an ego–that IS their ego speaking. Our egos are here to help us function in survival mode. It is the most primal and natural part of us. Stay alive, maintain the avatar. Without the function, our spirit would cease to exist in our avatar and we would be forced to find another.

      The ego is also the negative chatter we hear in our minds when we decide to make a change. Any significant change to our comfortable well-known life according to ego, is a threat to its survival. Since survival is the name of the game for the ego, the negative chatter is employed to convince you to stay where the ego wants you to be. Safe, comfortable and familiar. Notice, moving forward, when you are starting to level up–how loud your mind starts to get. It will become very loud and oftentimes very negative if you choose to not listen in the beginning.

     From this information, we can look at this as a sign. A sign we are leveling up; the mind chatter of negativity starts in on us before our eyes are even open. With this information you can choose to fight it or you can choose to partner with it. Take time in that mind chatter, to appreciate what is truly going on. The ego is trying to protect you, save you from potential harm and keep you alive. What a blessing it is to have support like that always on your side, whether you want it or not. 

     In meditation or whatever modality you chose to show appreciation, stop and appreciate your ego. Picture the ego as the shadow side of yourself. Try to picture an avatar of your ego, that’s right next to you on the passenger side, and then grab its hand. Thank you ego for keeping you alive up until this point and for always having your back. Always being your biggest fan and biggest support. Remind the ego that you still need to survive in this new venture and the ego’s services are still necessary. You still need your basic life protection so please invite your ego to come with you.  Be on the same team to get to a new goal!