Ego, like the Sensex, is highly susceptible to upswings and downswings; it makes our life uncertain and quite often it crashes, because it is a very unstable index of our happiness and well-being, says OSWALD PEREIRA
One wise man said that there is a fine line between ego and self-esteem. Not true at all, for ego and self-esteem are on opposite sides of the fence.
A person with ego has a bloated sense of self-importance. But a person with self-esteem knows his true worth.
When you declare to your friend, “I am good,” you are flaunting your ego. When you tell your friend, “We are good,” it shows that you have so much of self-esteem that you grant the other person his goodness out of the largeness of your heart and soul.
Ego is destructive. Self-esteem is constructive.
A person with ego not only destroys himself ― his core being, his inner, higher self ― but also the people around him by trying to be one-up all the while, demanding attention and trying to prove his superiority by running others down, including his near and dear ones. A person with self-esteem has so much of love and respect for himself that he can afford to share this with his fellow beings and be a channel of positive energy, spreading joy all around.
When we have ego, we don’t respect another person’s feelings or point of view, because we feel that would diminish our self-importance. The reason is quite simple: We don’t have enough confidence in ourselves. When we have self-esteem, we are always mindful of the other person’s feelings and are willing to consider his views, even if they seem at conflict with our own, because we are gifted with self-confidence.
Yes, gifted. We should consider, in all humility, self-confidence as a gift given to us by divinity, because we have become aware of our true, higher self that transcends our ego. The moment we consider self-confidence as an achievement, we tread on the negative, egoistic path that will send us on a downswing like the Sensex so often does.
In fact, ego is like the Sensex, highly susceptible to upswings and downswings. It makes our life uncertain and quite often it crashes, because it is a very unstable index of our happiness and well-being.
On the other hand, self-esteem is always so uplifting and will never let us down, as it is so stable, simply because it is based on our own self-worth and not what others think of us. Ego can be quite a spoiler―a spoiler of our peace of mind, a spoiler of our growth—emotional, psychological and spiritual. A person with ego shows signs of self-delusion, whereas a person with self-esteem has no illusions about himself―he/she knows and accepts himself/herself in an ‘as is and where is condition’, which paves the way for self-betterment.
It may perhaps be a good idea to start banishing our ego and building our self-esteem.
(Excerpted from the book How to Create Miracles in Our Daily Life, edited by Oswald Pereira and published by Vitasta Publishing Private Limited)
Oswald Pereira, a senior journalist, has also written eight books, including The Newsroom Mafia, Chaddi Buddies, The Krishna-Christ Connexion, How to Create Miracles in Our Daily Life and Crime Patrol: The Most Thrilling Stories. Oswald is a disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda, and practises Kriya Yoga.
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