Author Archives: Ego & Spirit
Earth—God’s Only Destination for Us
Earth—God’s Only Destination for Us
I want to offer thanks to those who work in the aerospace industry—past, present, and future. Since the beginning of our entry into exploring the cosmos, you have been incredible servants. A service that has brought forth many advances which are being used on planet Earth to better the lives of its inhabitants. Also, your efforts to explore the cosmos are part of the journey to further witness God’s majesty and the life existent in different realms. We will have you to thank when one day we make contact with that life and the birth of an interstellar community is brought forth. We are not alone. We have never been alone. God is too great for it to be otherwise.
But, there is one area of concern that is truly a matter of life and death—ours and Earth’s—that involves the aerospace industry. During the past several years there have been fascinating stories about space technology and travel that ultimately have the goal of inhabiting another planet. Some of the justification for this involving the progressive destruction of our planet via greenhouse gases that are a byproduct of industries that exploit Earth for business, financial, and political gain. A destruction laying the groundwork for “why” we earthlings will need to relocate to another place, such as Mars. I will readily admit to ignorance about all of the details of this “plan.” But, in spite of that, it strikes me as a rather ill-conceived plan. It took millions upon millions of years of this planet’s evolution and three million years of humankind’s evolution for this wonderful, beautiful earth, that was given to us by God, within the wisdom of the ages and evolution to be our home. The Love, Life, and Energy—God Is, that made it hospitable for us to enjoy and celebrate its nature and the opportunities we have to commune with it, using our senses and mind.
It seems incredibly arrogant, even with the brilliance of our science and scientists, to create technology that we can use to meet the intense evolutional demands of adapting to live in such an inhospitable environment, such as Mars. Dare I say, that one of the demands will involve our ceasing to be humans, as we know them, in order to attempt this “relocation.” To fashion a version of ourselves, intended to accelerate our ability to live in a very foreign and inhospitable environment. That is, to accelerate our evolution in ways that are out of alignment with our humanity and lead to the loss of it. Or, to transform Mars into a more hospitable environment. Even within a few 100,000 yrs. which is a blip on the time frame upon which evolution unfolds.
Earth is the place we are meant to be. A place with so much more potential to be the home we need it to be, in order to not just survive, but thrive and live into the near and distant future. Our free will is so much more about taking care of this home, than it is about finding a new one. If we fail in that undertaking, that will be the end of humanity. We are no more entitled to go on as a species, than any other life existent within the universe. If we fail to honor and protect the home we have been given. Earth is our only destination because that is what has been given to us by God, for the purpose of our existence. If we fail, it will not be the end of God or life that exists in other places. It has, is, and will continue to go on, just without us.
Earth was, is, and will be the only home for the form of life known as humankind, and all of its other living inhabitants. Those will never exist in another place beyond earth. This is where the sunrises begin and end. The waves ebb and flow. The birds chirp, coo, and caw. The flowers bloom and emit their fragrance. And on and on and on. The harmony of nature within our planet. All of that will never be known again if we allow earth to slowly, but ultimately die. Their presence and ours coming forth from evolution were meant for this place. We must abandon the illusion that there is an alternative. There is none. Earth is what we have been given. And it is our choice as to whether we will keep it.
Earth has been, is, and will be our only destination as it is within God’s plan. To think relocation is an option, gives some—the environmental terrorists—an out with which to exploit and abuse it. We must not let those with unhealthy ego energy, be it power, flexibility, or vulnerability related, rape and exploit the planet for their own near term, narrow and self-serving wants—not needs. To render a gift in which the air is unbreathable, the water is undrinkable, and the heat is unbearable. This is the gift from evolution we have been given and we are charged with acting as its stewards. We can either do that or the gift will be gone and so will we. We have been endowed with the Love, Life, and Energy—God Is, to undertake that stewardship. The task of our stewardship includes dealing with those who would seek to dishonor and abuse our earthly home. The God within our being—the Love, Life, and Energy—must be brought to bear in this effort. God from without will not come forth to deal with those earthly environmental rapists and exploiters. If that were so, would things have gotten so dire as to threaten the existence of this wonderful, beautiful planet, with it being endangered and uninhabitable within the next 100 to 200 yrs. It is within our hearts, minds, and hands, to keep what was intended for us by God—Earth.
In peace and love,
Nick
Ego Stupidity-The ‘Oxygen’ COVID-19 Needs from Us to Survive
Ego Stupidity-The ‘Oxygen’ COVID-19 Needs from Us to Survive
We are living through the darkest time that any of us has known in our lifetime. A pandemic challenging our way of life and that of our children and grandchildren. Some may argue the Great Depression, Hitler and Nazism, and 9/11 were darker than the challenges of COVID-19. But there is something very different taking place now, contributing to our darkness, beyond the ravages of COVID-19, when compared to those monumental challenges of the past. Then, our country willingly and instinctively came forth together to defeat what was facing it at the time. Americans knew they were all in this together and it would take that realization to meet the challenge. A time to become “one” in order to meet and defeat the threat at hand. Whether it was working our way out of a Depression, destroying a dictatorial monster bent on taking away peoples’ freedom, or responding to the threat of terrorism on our shores. I remember that feeling in the aftermath of 9/11, and so do you.
Unfortunately, that selfless, do what’s best for America and Americans, hasn’t been aroused and is absent in many, in response to COVID-19. It has been replaced for many by a “me first” willingness to sacrifice the lives and health of so many of their fellow Americans. Social distancing and wearing a mask are just too big of an “ask” in order to protect others and themselves. An approach to citizenry that has contributed to the grotesque, unfathomable, and often preventable daily loss of life in our great country. Rivaling the loss of life that occurred on just one day—9/11/01. But, now every day is a repeat of that horrific day in the loss of humanity. And that doesn’t seem to matter for a whole lot of people. Why! Why, is the unconscionable acceptance of the loss of life and the destruction COVID-19 has brought forth, taking place? Why, are so many failing to act as their brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, particularly health care workers and first responders? Why, is this happening in people who are as intelligent, and spiritual, and mentally stable, as everyone else?
The answers to these questions must be asked and answered, on behalf of those who have and are being lost to this scourge. This involves two influences that have given and are giving COVID-19 the “oxygen” it needs to survive. It is the combination of these influences that has resulted in a whole lot of senseless mismanagement, or what I refer to as ego stupidity. The first influence involves the role of social media in dispensing non-truths and lies about COVID-19, that’s doing its part to maintain the virus and help it to flourish. The explosion of social media platforms over the past 20 yrs. has led to the growth of “the empowerment of non-truth.” Under the cover of the First Amendment, social media platforms and opinion news programming, are less accountable for presenting and making distinctions between truth and faulty beliefs and half-truths about COVID-19. A lack of responsibility fueled by the fact there is a lot of money to be made in telling people what they want to hear and often less money in telling them what they need to hear—the unvarnished and vetted truth. Fiction and fantasy play better than reality for many people. People are “sold” what they want to see, hear, and believe which can be quite addictive.
An addiction to social media and opinion news reflected in the incredible number of hrs. people are willing to consume and “stay tuned” on their TVs and computers. Unfortunately, this addiction has found its way into the content involving COVID-19 and many of the mistruths being told about it. Often, including various forms of conspiracy theory in which people pay attention to half-truths while ignoring lies. One additional benefit of the addiction is that you don’t have to spend time getting to know the truths about COVID-19, you can just let others “find” it for you and you even allow them to do your thinking for you, though you often don’t realize that this is happening. Things like telling you it’s a hoax, or that it’s going away after the election, or that warm weather will make it disappear, or masks don’t work to limit the spread of COVID-19. Intelligent, spiritual, and mentally stable people have swallowed many of these non-truths and still are. They just don’t know they are because the whole process is quite insidious and as I said addictive.
Now to the second influence. Just as COVID-19 needs a host in the body, it also needs a host in the mind. And, that’s where the amount of balance and healthiness within our ego energy comes in. The amount of oxygen involving our ego, on which COVID-19 survives, is affected by the balance in one’s ego energy. When it’s balanced and healthy we deal with life in a healthily empowered, mentally flexible, appropriately vulnerable way to meet the challenges we are faced with, particularly COVID-19. We retain an awareness of our empowerment in so many aspects of life, even in the face of COVID-19. Wearing a mask represents empowerment, not disempowerment. We can listen with an open, but healthily skeptical mind, to scientists, medical practitioners, business, and political leaders whose life’s work is about serving everyone, not themselves, or the profits to be made from irresponsible (e.g. truth disconnected) social media or opinion news programming. People who have no interest or agenda, monetary or political, in spewing forth non-truths about COVID-19. Truth is and has always been their North Star. COVID-19 can find no host in our mind and the oxygen it needs when met with the disinfectant of truth. We can meet any of our fears with a realistic perspective built on truth to know that which must be feared about COVID-19. The common thread here is truth. It is the vaccine we must also take to kill what COVID-19 needs to survive and not be its mental host.
When one’s ego energy is less healthy and imbalanced we can find our way or be led to thinking and feeling we are disempowered, when we truly aren’t. We can find our way or be led to conspiracy theories connected to COVID-19, which can be eviscerated with the disinfectant of truth. If one is willing to drill down to the bedrock of truth that social media and opinion news often falls short of finding and feels no obligation to seek. We can find our way to feeling more threatened than we need to be, if we fail to meet COVID-19 with the truths we have and continue to learn about it, from the real experts, to keep each other safe. Ignorance of the truth from social media and unhealthy ego energy are the foundation of the ego stupidity with which many have been dealing with COVID-19. It is the oxygen on which COVID-19 depends and that has led to the deaths of more people than have died in each of our nation’s wars, and those yet to die from COVID-19. It remains for many to take two vaccines. One for their body and the other for their mind.
I end this blog with a quotation from Charles Dickens which appears in one of my previous blogs “Coronavirus—What Your Ego Needs from You.”
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”
As we embrace wisdom, belief, light, and hope brought forth by the best of our humanity melded to our Divinity shining forth collectively in truth, it will be ‘the best of times’.
Stay safe and be well.
In peace and love,
Nick
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The Maturing of Diversity
The Maturing of Diversity
The past 50 years have seen tremendous social and political transformation in our country. A transformation involving significant changes in the diversity of family structures, significant changes for women and minorities involving participation in non-traditional careers and leadership positions, and significant changes involving representation in government for all members of our society at the local, state and national levels. We are also seeing greater openness, particularly taking place in our younger Americans in accepting all person’s rights to be accepted, regardless of their sexual orientation. This and more is what I refer to as the “maturing of diversity.” A maturity that is more accepting of all people regardless of who they are, where they come from, and what they look like. A maturity that respects the presence of God in all beings, even when that image looks different from us. A maturity from which we cannot turn away or turn back, because the truth of who we are, in our humanity and Divinity, is being progressively revealed to us.
The “Me Too” and “Black Lives Matter” movements are reflective of the continuation, not completion, of what was begun in the 1960’s involving the Women’s Liberation and Civil Rights Movements. Thanks to people like Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Eleanor Smeal, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Martin Luther King, Jr., Muhammad Ali, John Lewis, and many more who courageously planted seeds in the face of a society that had not wholly signed off on needed social change. Social change that welcomed all to be equal participants in the ‘American Dream’, as we have moved forward in our greatness as a country. Far greater than the one which once was.
Many have welcomed this maturity but some have not. Those in the latter group are fearful of the changes brought forth by this transformation and long for the days when America was “great.” Failing to remember, or maybe not, that the earlier version of America, involved many things that were not so great. It wasn’t so unusual for many to think a woman’s place could only be in the home, women weren’t suitable by temperament to be political or business leaders or members of the military, blacks were intellectually inferior, blacks were lazy and didn’t want to work, and that gay men and women were mentally ill and morally bankrupt. Most of what was said and the stereotypes many people subscribed to have been debunked and the false version of social reality that they portrayed, even in those times.
Yet, some want to cling to them in fear of losing their social and cultural relevance. A person out of place and out of touch with the version of America becoming great now. A person who is in denial of this emerging greater version of America, built on the maturing of diversity. A person who must be helped to know that they have a place in this America, if they want it, not in an America that does not and can no longer exist. The tide of the maturing of diversity is rolling forward in the creation of a greater America, and they must have a place in it. Beyond the greatness of America being rooted in its freedom, is it being a place for all. That is the fulfillment of the foundation laid by our founding fathers. For that to cease would be the ending of the American dream that great Americans of all backgrounds have sought. That is what the inscription on the Statue of Liberty stands for. “They vs. Us” will never serve as the foundation for a greater America.
In peace and love,
Nick Martin
Racism and Ego Energy
Racism and Ego Energy
We are entering into one of those special moments in our country’s history. A moment not unlike the year 1968 in which I witnessed protests and social unrest on TV, taking place in the streets of Detroit, the Democratic Convention in Chicago, and the medal stand at the Mexico City Olympics. A moment in which unpleasant and inconvenient truths are no longer being suppressed as had been previously the case. Similar to those involving revelations about sexual misconduct on the part of some members of the Catholic clergy and sexual misconduct which precipitated the “Me Too” movement. This is a moment filled with lots of pain that is the price we must pay to get to a better place in our personal and collective evolution. A moment in which we should not forget what we have all seen and heard so vividly. Unfortunately, awakenings are often painful but necessary, because they involve transitioning from the darkness of ugly, hidden truths, from where we were, to the light of those same ugly truths, often originating within us, due to our human imperfection.
As we work our way to this better place, we must come to know where we were and why we were there, in order to get to this better place and build upon it, rather than regressing and falling back into old patterns. Regression that’s often undergirded by the ego energy that served as the foundation for racism in the hearts and minds of people, which bypassed their intelligence, spiritual essence, and emotional stability. Overt and covert racism that is part of the “abnormal-normal” formed from its roots in unhealthy ego energy. You don’t have to be stupid to be a racist. You don’t have to be lacking a spiritual essence to be a racist. You don’t have to be mentally unstable to be a racist. Most racists and the creators of racist discriminatory policies, are none of those things. But, what they do have is unhealthy ego energy to form the ugly thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that ultimately become institutionalized racism.
Our ego energy is the source of our racism when it’s distancing us from human and Divine Truth about our brothers and sisters. When we are wrestling with empowerment issues, it’s easy to find targets to disempower in the service of our empowerment, whether we attach it to race, religion, ethnicity, gender orientation, to name but a few. A false but effective means to experiencing empowerment over black people. When we are wrestling with our ability seek truth, it is easier to fashion false truths about black people in the service of owning the truth. A false but effective means to forming prejudicial and discriminatory thoughts and beliefs. When we are wrestling with vulnerability issues, it is easier to allow fear to creep into our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, about black people. A false means by which to protect ourselves from those with whom we need no more protection than anyone else.
The outer changes that must come about to remove institutionalized racist policies to be found in law enforcement, business, and health care, will need to be complemented by the inner changes that must take place in ourselves, because that is where they came from. We must disown the need to empower ourselves through “white privilege” at the cost to our black brothers and sisters. We must live the truth of our equality by being the Love, Life, and Energy—God Is, within our thoughts, words, and deeds, towards our black brothers and sisters, on all days and not just some. We must remove the fear of our black brothers and sisters, which has been outwardly manifested in the anger of discriminatory thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. We are all better than that, because we have been endowed with God’s presence in all of us.
It will not be enough to undertake the revision and reform of racist policies, practices, and procedures. They didn’t write or were enacted in and of themselves. They were born in the hearts and minds of people. Some were fully aware, and others were not, of their implications. Failure to recognize the depth of their origins will only invite their reappearance in some new way, shape, or form. Such is the inventiveness and creativeness of those with darker motives, who only seek to serve themselves, no matter the cost to others. We must go deep into the roots of ourselves to understand the fuel, the energy, which serves as the source being drawn upon, individually and collectively, to foster racism, despite each of us being a child of God.
In peace and love,
Nick
Coronavirus—What Your Ego Needs from You
Coronavirus—What Your Ego Needs from You
The Coronavirus has triggered the setting off of an alarm by your ego whose sole purpose is to protect you and ensure your survival—both daily and mortal. In response to this alarm, people form anxiety, fear, and stress related thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, which differ from person to person. Many are able to keep an even keel, draw upon experiences in dealing with previous challenges, maintain perspective despite the ambiguity of the crisis and when it will pass, and not be consumed with anxiety, fear, and stress symptoms. You are also able to temper your response to the alarm because your ego energy is healthy and balanced within its power, flexibility, and vulnerability. As daunting a challenge as the Coronavirus is, it has not weakened your sense of empowerment, weakened your ability to seek and work with the truth you need to know—good or bad, or weakened your ability to maintain a reality based, truth connected sense of your vulnerability. You will be called to service for those I am about to describe, by being the Love, Light, and Energy—God Is, in your service to them.
For many and particularly those who are more vulnerable due to their medical, financial, and work related circumstances the alarm is likely to be fostering more intense anxiety, fear, and stress symptoms. Part of this is due to the significant challenge that Coronavirus poses to your health and financial “safety.” And part of this is due to the nature of your ego energy and it’s response to the alarm. The first part is presently being addressed by the work of our scientific, medical, business, and leadership communities who will find the answers we need to defeat the Coronavirus. Their collective brilliance will make this happen, similar to the brilliance which was brought to bear in managing previous major existential threats such as the Great Depression and the menace of Hitler’s Third Reich.
The second part is your part and involves your anxiety, fear, and stress connected to the Coronavirus. There is something you need to know about ego and something your ego needs from you—that only you can give it! You need to know that even though your ego has a purpose—to keep you safe, protected, and alive—it has no awareness of that purpose or the alarm signal it’s sending to you. It doesn’t have the ability to tone it down or turn it off. Because it doesn’t have a brain, intellect, and mind to work with in order to do any of that. But you do, and you can give to your ego what it needs, as described in the following paragraphs, to meet the power, flexibility, and vulnerability needs in your ego energy, that are making this a particularly difficult time for you.
In regards to your ego power, it is likely that you have “forgotten” at least temporarily, the many, many things which are important and remain fully within your control. Things which are reflective of the significant empowerment that remains in your life. They may not all be what you want, like going to work on site, meeting up with friends, or going to sporting events. But, a lot of them are what you need. Simple, no cost, but important things like spending time with family and friends while using social distancing involving texting, calling, and skyping, exercising indoors or outdoors, playing with your animal friends, going for a ride in your car, going to a park, taking a walk in a forest, listening to great music, reading great literature, watching great TV programs, and so many, many more. Reminding yourself of them and doing them will tighten the connection to your empowerment and “tell” your ego that you’re not as disempowered as the Coronavirus and ego’s alarm has led you to think you are.
In regards to your ego flexibility, it is likely that you have gained some distance from truth and reality. That can happen when we are flooded by fear and anxiety. It can also happen when the people we rely upon for giving us the truth are failing to do so. This requires us to seek out the real truth tellers who are motivated by relevant experience and a genuine need to offer service unto us by giving us the truth—good or bad—that we need to know. We were designed by God via the wisdom of the ages and evolution to work best with truth and understanding. It doesn’t have to be positive—just real—so we can work better with what’s what. And, to use it as the guiding light for our healing and transformation. So, feed your ego energy as much truth and understanding about the Coronavirus as you can get from resources and people who are not compromised by a lack of experience or agendas in their service to us. And gain distance from those who want to tell you what you want to hear, rather than what you need to hear, as this false reassurance can only be a disservice to you.
In regards to your ego vulnerability, it is likely that you have mixed genuine health, work, and financially related concerns, we all share, with some magnification of them. This magnification is the result of fear and anxiety which often has a distorting and enlarging impact on the concerns we have. This is a time for our leaders to be true leaders and do what is necessary to address each of those concerns. That appears to be happening and you should remind yourself of that, so that message penetrates into your ego vulnerability to lessen it. But, you are the one who can “tell” your ego that you are less vulnerable than it is leading you to believe you are. You can do this by using the guidance of the truth tellers in the scientific and medical communities regarding social distancing and using appropriate, diligent hygienic practices, to reduce the likelihood of getting the Coronavirus. And by getting hard, factual information regarding strategies being developed by business and government to alleviate your financial and employment situation.
Also, remind yourself that we are each our brother’s and sister’s keepers, and you are surrounded by the Divinity in all of them, which will speak to your health, financial, and work-related concerns, as we walk this journey together—not alone. Each one of us is endowed with the Love, Life, and Energy—God Is. It is a common thread across all of us and the making of our Oneness and Unity. You are already seeing it come forth in the numerous stories of service that people are offering to each other, with many more to come. Coronavirus is no match for our Divinity and its reflection in our thoughts, words, and deeds for each other.
Charles Dickens wrote in A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” As we embrace wisdom, belief, light, and hope brought forth by the best of our humanity melded to our Divinity shining forth collectively, it will be ‘the best of times’.
Stay safe and be well.
In peace and love,
Nick
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‘Fido’ and ‘Fluffy’—Opportunities to Be the Love, Life, and Energy—God Is
‘Fido’ and ‘Fluffy’—Opportunities to Be the Love, Life, and Energy—God Is
We are given so many opportunities to be the Love, Life, and Energy—God Is, within our life. Opportunities to be the unconditional, connective, unburdened, and unlimited love that is the essence of being the Love—God Is. Opportunities to recognize the presence of God in all life forms and to treat it with honor and respect, whatever form it takes, be it human, animal, plant, and others, that is the essence of being the Life—God Is. Opportunities to experience the healing and transformation that occurs when we connect to light and truth about God, ourselves, and all beings, which is the essence of being the Energy—God Is.
One of these, involves the opportunity to have a ‘Fido’ or ‘Fluffy’ or any other furry or not so furry friend to share our life with. These wonderful gifts serve us in so many ways. They give us a sense of comfort and companionship when licking our face, sitting on our lap, or climbing into our bed. They help us to laugh, distract us from our cares, or lighten our mood, when they play with us, others, or by themselves. They offer a sense of compassion when they come around us when sensing our distress or meeting our needs to feel protected. There are so many more experiences we can relate to in their service to us. A service that St. Francis of Assisi fully recognized in his communion with the animals and nature that surrounded him.
But, there is one more very important way they serve us and it is within the service we offer to them. They give us an opportunity to be the best version of ourselves. They give us an opportunity to experience the best version of life. They give us an opportunity to be in full contact with our spirituality and Divinity. It is within their presence and our service to them that we are given an opportunity to be the Love, Life, and Energy—God Is.
Remember, the love that surmounted any of the difficulties that caring for ‘Fido’ or ‘Fluffy’ asked of you within meeting their needs. Remember, the feeling of connection as they progressively earned a place in your heart and your family. Remember, when you were willing to do anything or go anywhere to help them when they weren’t well. They took us beyond the limitations of human love which is often conditional, often non-connective to some, often experienced as burdened, and often containing limits as to how much can be offered to those being loved.
Remember, when they taught you the presence of God in all of life and not just humans. Remember, when you came to honor, respect, and treat them and all life equally. Remember when you began to recognize that their purpose was beyond your own desires for entertainment when witnessing their confinement in cages and zoos that violate their instincts and the millions of years of evolution that shaped those instincts. They took us beyond the human limitations of respecting life according to some position on the species continuum and arbitrarily conferring status within the human species based on a person’s race, religion, gender orientation, or ethnicity.
Remember, how you grew as a person, as the Godness in your being, made contact with the Godness in their being. Two souls no longer separated by designation of being human and animal. A healing and transformation brought forth when being able to look beyond the human realm to see life in its greatest Divine truth—as One and in Unity. They took us beyond the darkness and ignorance of our earlier thoughts of separation from them to the brilliant light of truth connecting us to all beings.
I am so thankful to all of the animal members of our family that graced me with their presence and service over the years. And in giving me the opportunity to learn of the Love, Life, and Energy—God Is, within myself and my service to them. To Soot, Zeke, Bailey, Spanky, Pepper, Elvis, Ginny, Cotton, Caspar, Zack, Shiloh, Emma, Patrick, Diego, Mila, Bradley, Daisy, Madison, Madeline, and Regis, you all remain forever in my heart for what you gave to me and in helping me to experience the best of what life and I have to offer, within my service to you.
In peace and love,
Nick
“Rocky Mountain High”—with Accompaniment by God
“Rocky Mountain High”—with Accompaniment by God
I was listening to a CD the other day and heard the song “Rocky Mountain High” by John Denver. An incredibly moving and spiritual song capturing the majesty of a particular region of our country and the transformation of a man as he was developing a deeper relationship with himself and life. I replayed the song several times taking in the beautiful mixture of sound, imagery, and thought that John had given to the world in this and all of his music. As I contemplated his contribution and service, I came to hear the song on a much deeper level that moved me to tears.
My initial listening to this work in the 1970’s included the enjoyment of the mixture I referred to earlier. However, it included the understanding that everything about the work was solely from John. He thought the thoughts, composed the words, played the guitar, and sang the words. That he did it all alone, so I thought. But he didn’t. Yes, he did all the things I just mentioned. However, he didn’t do it all alone. The roots serving as the source of the song were not of his making. Those roots were the Love, Life, and Energy—God Is, within his being. That he drew upon to create a song that celebrated life lovingly, with honor, and a grasp of its potential for transformation. In the absence of God’s presence there would have been no “Rocky Mountain High”, or “Take Me Home, Country Roads”, or “Poems, Prayers, and Promises”… I think he knew that.
The same goes for us whether our great works involve parenting our children, providing for our family, caring for our neighbor, protecting our environment, serving our animal friends and wildlife, and engaging in our life’s work. Our great works cannot be known without the accompaniment of God. We supply the incredible thoughts, words, and deeds which allow for their making. But, the source of their creation and manifestation is the God within our being. It is the source of our being able to “write and perform” our own version of “Rocky Mountain High” within our life.
Oftentimes, people see this differently and claim their own great works as solely of their own making. This is certainly a reasonable and understandable conclusion if you think you were the only person “in the room” when it was being created and manifested. However, this impression of the absence of any accompaniment by God is often the product of seeing life through the prism of one’s ego energy, particularly if one is experiencing what I refer to in my work as higher ego power energy. A prism often creating distance from human and Divine Truth. A prism often distorting one’s ability to recognize the actual reality that is playing out in their life. A prism that often leads one to insist that one’s great works are solely of their own making. When necessary, it is the removal of this prism with ego medicine that will heal this energy and allow us to be tightly connected to human and Divine Truth, allow us to witness the actual human and Divine Reality playing out within us and before us, and allow us to realize how much we are being accompanied by God in our great works.
In peace and love,
Nick
10 Ego Insights to Promote Our Human and Spiritual Wellness
10 Ego Insights to Promote Our Human and Spiritual Wellness
If you’ve had a psychology class or read a book that touched on ego in likelihood you got a very limited, very superficial, and very incomplete description that weakens your ability to understand the extremely important influence that ego is having on your life, humanly and spiritually. By the way that’s not the fault of those courses or teachers because they were only intended to give us a basic understanding of ego, not everything. Unfortunately, if we get the impression that we pretty much know everything there is to know about ego, we are actually missing a great deal about it and what it’s doing to our life. So, knowing something about ego is as good as knowing nothing about ego, because what we know can be misleading. It can lead us to minimize the effect ego is having on our life, and cause us to miss the destructive impact that ego can be having on it. Weakening our ability to understand ourselves, each other, and God. Even though we are normal, intelligent, and spiritual beings, our ego energy can be leading us towards a lesser version of ourselves and a lesser version of life. Consequently the more we know about ego and our ego energy, the more we can remove ourselves from the ignorance and darkness that empowers ego and upon which it thrives, to the truth and light upon which we can thrive.
- Everyone has an Ego.
There are over 7 billion people on the planet and every one of us has an ego. Just as we all have a face, a brain, and a heart, we also have an ego. We often don’t realize this due to our ignorance of what it truly is.
- Ego is an Energy.
Ego is an energy and its main purpose is to protect us, keep us safe, and promote our survival—our daily and human survival. It is serving as the roots for how we will try to survive in this life, and hopefully serve us in living a fulfilling and meaningful life. Unfortunately, this effort to survive can happen in some very different and often stupid ways for different people. This requires having a deep and diverse understanding of ego and the energy that it is. Failing to do this will keep us as ignorant of it now, as we were 3,000 years ago and will be 3,000 years into the future. This will prevent any real transformation of personal and collective human and spiritual consciousness on our planet.
- Ego Energy is Diverse and comprised of Power, Flexibility, and Vulnerability.
Power involves the degree to which we are willing to exert influence in our life. Flexibility involves the degree we are willing to seek the truth we do not know and discard the false truths we do know. Vulnerability involves our ability to accept and work with our weaknesses and an imperfect world. Each of these components are brought to bear as we meet the challenges of life including relationships, achieving our potential and knowing our life’s purpose, change, adversity, stress, conflict, and living genuine happiness.
- Ego Energy can become unhealthy and imbalanced by life circumstances—not by you, ego, or God.
The experience of living too much or too little ego power, flexibility, and vulnerability are brought about by what life has brought to our door in the form of harmful, destructive, or dysfunctional people we have encountered, traumatic events, impoverished environmental circumstances, or inherited/acquired illnesses, diseases, or disorders which have brought our daily survival into question.
- Ego Energy is the main source of the stupidity happening in our life—not our intellect, not mental illness, and not an absence of spirituality.
We have enough intellectual ability to think intelligently and adaptively about the challenges taking place in our life when unhealthy ego energy isn’t getting in the way. The overwhelming majority of us are not being afflicted by the type of mental illness that would compromise our ability to think rationally, intelligently, and adaptively in response to what is taking place in our life. It is not due to an absence of spirituality because the Love, Life, and Energy—God Is, is always within us, though unhealthy ego energy can cause us to gain some distance from it. When we attribute any of the stupidity happening in our life or those of others, to intellectual limitations, mental illness, or the absence of spirituality, we are getting caught up in misleading explanations and missing the boat. Shooting groups of people becomes a moment of empowerment for those feeling disempowered or an opportunity to express frustration in a world that is not complying with the shooter’s version of truth.
- Ego Energy shapes what can become our “abnormal-normal”, which is the distorted ways of looking at ourselves, our life, our thoughts, our feelings, and our behaviors.
Ego energy is like a prism or filter through which we are looking at things and the nature of the power, flexibility, and vulnerability making up the prism defines it and the distortions we can get in how we see ourselves, our life, our thoughts, our feelings, and our behaviors, which reflect ego stupidity. It is abnormal, because what we are thinking, feeling, or doing is unhealthy, even though others can often see it. It is normal, because it becomes so typical of what we think, feel, or do that we often make it out to be normal. By the way taking a pill will not alter or remove the prism—you do!
- Ego Energy thrives on consistency, familiarity, predictability, and the known, which keeps us stuck in it even when we are realizing the things we are thinking, feeling, or doing are wrong.
So we can be stuck in unhealthy ego energy which entraps us in spending our life surviving rather than living. Particularly, if we don’t know what to do about it. Or, we can be experiencing healthy ego energy (which also likes consistency, familiarity…) which allows us to spend much of our life living and not just surviving.
- Ego Energy can impact our spiritual wellness—weakening our ability to be the Love, Life, and Energy—God Is.
We are always spiritual because we could not exist in the absence of God’s presence in our being. But, we can gain distance from our spirituality and not be spiritually well due to unhealthy ego energy, particularly when we embrace ego illusions of separation, inequality, and unworthiness. Unhealthy ego energy weakens our ability to be the unconditional, connective, unburdened, and unlimited love that God Is. It weakens our ability to recognize and honor the presence of God in all life forms, be they human, animal, plant, insect, etc. It weakens our ability to undergo the natural healing and transformation that we were designed to experience when being the Energy—God Is. It also weakens our ability to embrace the Divine Gifts we have been given of our life, our ability to create the life in which we are living, our eternal life, and God’s presence within us, every step of our life. Unhealthy, imbalanced ego energy gets in the way of all of that and undermines our spiritual wellness.
- Ego Energy is mainly healed by You—not Ego, not God, and not Life.
Ego can’t do it, because it doesn’t have an awareness of what it is and what it’s doing to your life, as it doesn’t have an intellect or a capacity for intentionality. God does not work to directly intervene in fixing our ego energy even though we can make efforts to draw upon our spiritual resources to manifest more of the Love, Life, and Energy—God Is, including the use of prayer, meditation, and service to others. Life can bring a powerful transformational event or person into our lives that can shift our ego energy in a positive direction. But, generally they have to be pretty powerful and you have to wait for them to come if they ever do. For example, a near death experience causing someone to gain greater perspective and altering or removing the prism I was talking about earlier. You are the one who can heal your ego energy where needed with the information I can share with you in my programs and books. Because, you are the only one living you!
- Ego Energy can be healed by you with the use of Ego Medicine
This involves guidance from us that is contained in each of our books towards knowing: 1) What ego is and what it isn’t, 2) Tuning into your ego energy, and 3) Replacing ego rooted non-reality based thoughts with those which are reality based.
In peace and love,
Nick and Linda
God—The Love Guiding Us To Be Truly Loving
God—The Love Guiding Us To Be Truly Loving
The greatest of human experiences are those times when we are being truly loving. Times when we are manifesting a connective, unconditional, unburdened, and unlimited love with whatever we are doing and whoever we are doing it with or for. A loving embrace of life happening when we are caring for our children and loved ones, tending a garden, writing inspiring music or stories, teaching skills that lead to a better life for others, putting ourselves in harm’s way to protect others, and a million other ways we can be truly loving. The reservoir of Love serving as the source of this loving comes from within, but it is not of our making, as much as we may want to think or believe that. It is the Love—God Is, which we can choose to manifest in any way possible as it has no boundaries that can be placed upon it. It is the foundation for what become the loving thoughts, words, feelings, and actions we use to express this Love.
This Love is connective because there can be no walls or barriers that stand in the way of its connection to ourselves or others. But, we can create walls made from ego illusions such as separation, unworthiness, and inequality that make it appear as though this Love is absent or beyond our reach. This Love is unconditional as there are no reasons for which it can be offered to some and not others. Differences of race, religion, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, political affiliation, income level, intellectual capability, emotional stability, physical ability, and species have no place in this Love. This Love is unburdened as there is no challenge it cannot meet in order that this Love can be offered to or received by those in its need. This Love is unlimited and inexhaustible as it has no end and in its giving more is created to be given.
Some may disagree with the notion that we are not the source of our loving thoughts, words, and deeds. It is certainly an understandable belief that we ourselves created the manifestations of love and must be considered the source of them, rather than God. Unfortunately, this understanding becomes a misunderstanding when we believe that we can stand alone or apart from God. It also misses the intense intimacy we share with God and how much our life is being impacted by the Love, Life, and Energy—God Is, whether we know it or not. Every breath we take, image we see, song that fills our heart, taste we enjoy, and so on is the culmination of the Love—God Is, built upon the wisdom of the ages. God has made all of this possible including our capacity to be truly loving—we are not its source. The really good news is that this Love is available to everyone and at all times with which to fashion a greater life than what we have known. We can only become distant from it when our ego energy is creating distance from it.
When we default into believing we are the source of our loving rather than God we have opened the door to many distortions in how we know and show our love as well as our ability to accept it from others. Our loving thoughts, words, and deeds become fashioned through the prism of our ego energy. Our ego power, flexibility, and vulnerability when imbalanced can promote distortions of love that distance us from being the Love—God Is and can be quite twisted. We can think it is Ok to love some and not others. We can think we only have so much love to give. We can think we don’t deserve to be loved. We can think we must earn love. We can think others must earn our love. We can think that showing love is weakness. We can think that needing love is weakness. The Love—God Is, would not have us thinking any of this!
Our recognition that God is the source of our being truly loving not only has profound implications for ourselves but also for how we see our neighbors. We can see not only the humanity of their loving thoughts, words, and deeds—but also the Divinity. We can hear the voice of God speaking to us through them telling us about the Oneness and Unity we share with them. We can put aside the distraction of any human differences to see more deeply who they are and who we are. It is within this awareness that we can combine our human resources to address any of the challenges we face individually and collectively, when being truly loving. The Love—God Is, within our being will defeat any fear or weakness within ourselves or others as their source is only within our humanity. They cannot withstand the connective, unconditional, unburdened, and unlimited love we can meet them with when we are being truly loving of ourselves and others while being the Love—God Is.
In peace and love,
Nick and Linda
Love Our Neighbor—There is No Choice!
Love Our Neighbor—There is No Choice!
One of the most important messages we receive as children and throughout our lifetime is to love our neighbor. This message has been sent throughout the world for thousands of years. It is a central tenet of every religion or belief system seeking to promote connection to each other and God. A foundation for human and spiritual wellness and a game plan for the best life has to offer. This is a particularly important message in a world where technology and telecommunications has brought us into a more immediate and intimate level of contact with our neighbors, near and far, in ways that did not exist only a generation ago. Distance, geography, and primitive technology no longer stand in the way of seeing our neighbor or they us—for better or worse. Yet, despite its simplicity, familiarity, and significance, it is a message that is often not fully embraced at all times, in all places, and with all people. This message often gets diluted, lost, or forgotten when we encounter the differences that exist between we and our neighbors. Then loving our neighbor starts to become a choice for many, if it isn’t one we are already making
The weakening, meaninglessness, and absence of the message begins with the notion that loving our neighbor is a choice. It is a choice we may or may not realize we are making—but many are often making it. This choice is being made when we start to look negatively upon neighbors who differ from us in race, gender, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religious affiliation, income level, intellectual ability, physical ability, or emotional stability. Placing conditions or requirements on which neighbors we will love or how much is a violation of the simple, brilliant, and beautiful message to love our neighbor—all of them and at all times! When we fail to do so, we don’t understand the message at all and believing we do is only an illusion. Also, loving our neighbor isn’t something we can only think. It’s not just a good and wholesome idea. We must live it for the message to be real and not just an illusion in which we are only fooling ourselves.
Some may think that loving our neighbor is a choice and even resent the suggestion that there can be no choice. It only becomes a choice when we are losing contact with our Divinity and falling deeply into our humanity. A humanity which often embraces the notion that we are not our brother’s and sister’s keepers and do not need to serve them in their time of need. A humanity which allows us to stop loving our neighbor based on any of the differences they may have from our likeness. A humanity that allows fear and anger, rather than love, to guide one’s thoughts, feelings, and behavior toward our neighbor, particularly when they are being a lesser version of themselves.
Loving our neighbor becomes a choice when ego illusions of separation, inequality, and unworthiness become the filters through which we view our neighbors and loving them becomes more conditional. Loving our neighbor becomes attached to prerequisites involving the right beliefs and values, the right demographics, or the right physical, mental, or emotional characteristics. The notion of loving our neighbor is lost and the message has been rendered meaningless when choice has become a part of it. The Love—God Is, which exists within our Divinity is connective, unconditional, unburdened, and unlimited. It involves a Divine standard rather than a human one to be the source of one’s guidance. It does not allow for a choice where none can exist to be the essence of this love. Only an imbalanced ego in which power, flexibility, or vulnerability issues are impacting on our human energy and humanity can bring this about—making love a choice.
The good news is we can become more connected to our Divinity, if need be. When we awaken to the illusion of separation operating in our life and realize we are truly connected to all others the wall of separation can come down. When we awaken to the illusion of inequality operating in our life and realize we can only be equal and that any differences are not the making of deficiency or inequality, this wall can come down. When we awaken to the illusion of unworthiness operating in our life and realize that we and others can only be worthy because God dwells within each of us, this wall can come down. The removal of each of these illusions will lead to the removal of the notion that loving our neighbor is a choice. With the true meaning of the message “love our neighbor” being fully known and lived.
Again, the Love—God Is, is connective, unconditional, unburdened, and unlimited. When we sign on to loving our neighbor that is the love we are being. That is the love in which there can be no choice. That is the love in which we would want no choice. It is the love in which ego illusions involving separation, inequality, and unworthiness, attached to ourselves, others, or God can’t and don’t exist. Gandhi said, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” To the degree that loving our neighbor is a choice, we must seek to be that change.
Love Our Neighbor—There is No Choice!
In peace and love,
Nick and Linda
Fred’s Mom was Right—Look for the Helpers!
Fred’s Mom was Right—Look for the Helpers!
We are living through some challenging times as most of you know. The idea that terrible things could never happen “here” is now a relatively quaint notion which has been replaced by the awareness that soft targets—schools, places of worship, stores, concerts, sporting events, and shopping malls—can in an instant become scenes of unspeakable tragedy. That visit came recently to one of our Pittsburgh neighborhoods, the one Fred Rogers knew so well, at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Squirrel Hill. Eleven souls were lost to a man whose life spiraled downward to the point that death and destruction came to give some meaning and purpose to his life. A theme often present in others killing in places such as Orlando, San Bernardino, Newtown, Littleton, and unfortunately many more. The new normal is that it can happen here and we are challenged to heal from our pain. While, our leaders and legislators fail to address issues that make these tragedies far more likely and common here than in other parts of the world.
As Fred’s mom taught him, in times of great difficulty look for the helpers. The helpers are the healers. They cannot undo the incredible physical and emotional pain we have experienced. They cannot undo the loss of what could have been and should have been. They cannot make sensible what was senseless. That is not their purpose in our time of need. The helpers are those serving us while being the Love—God Is. This love is connective, unconditional, unburdened, and unlimited. It is far stronger than hate and its “father”—fear. This love will return us to living as we come to terms with man’s inhumanity to man. This love is our rock as we move beyond the darkness into the light.
We can find the helpers anywhere and anytime. They come in many different forms. The first place is within. We have all been endowed with the Love—God Is. This is why we are capable of doing incredible things and why when people come together they do some really incredible things. We were designed by the wisdom of the ages—three million years—to heal from within and be our healer. Tools such as sharing our thoughts and feelings, crying, laughing when we’re ready, meditating, and exercising are just some of the ways that resonate with the design woven into our being so that we can love, help, and heal ourselves.
The helpers are also found in all of the people surrounding us who are manifesting the Love—God Is. This love being reflected in their listening, kind words, compassion, and warm embraces. We must open our door to these helpers as the connective, unconditional, unburdened, and unlimited love they are extending to us resonates with our Divinity. Seeing the face of God in their reaching out to us allows us to reach inward and recognize the God which dwells within. This recognition helps us to know that we never walk alone on our life’s path even in the darkest of times and can surmount them with the Love—God Is.
Our helpers can also be found in those we have never met. But, who gave something to the world born of their being the Love—God Is. Their gifts may have been musical, artistic, literary, religious, athletic, scientific, or any other creation that resonates with our humanity and Divinity. Touching us in a way that inspires us to love, help, and heal ourselves. Each allowing us to experience a greater sense of connection to ourselves and others—humanly and spiritually.
The helpers can be found in nature’s gifts. Each created by the Love—God Is. Each showing us the breadth of love which surrounds us, waiting to be held to their bosom. Each speaking messages to us about the beauty, meaning, and purpose which remains as we walk along the healing path. Chirping birds, fragrant flowers, serene beaches, gentile rainfall, dog licks, cat cuddles, sunrises and sunsets, majestic mountain views, and tranquil forests are just a few of the messengers of love, awaiting the opportunity to be our helpers.
Ironically, those who perpetrated mass violence were surrounded by many helpers. They either could not recognize them or chose not to reach out to them. They had gained tremendous distance from the Love—God Is within others. Divisive rhetoric certainly did not help them to do either. It was present in the healers who served the killer at Allegheny General Hospital while working to save his life. The Love—God Is was present in all of the mass killers though they had gained an incredible amount of distance from it, which is what happens when one’s ego energy is significantly imbalanced, and life can only be understood in inhuman terms devoid of any connection to one’s humanity, spirituality, and that of others.
Yes, love is stronger than hate and fear because it connects us to all of our helpers and all of who we are—much stronger!
In peace and love,
Nick and Linda
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Truth—So Near Yet So Far Away
Truth—So Near Yet So Far Away
There is nothing more important to our wellness and survival than truth—human and Divine. Despite its role in helping us to be grounded in reality and all of the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual benefits that come with being connected to it, most of us live at some distance from it. A distance that often is reflected in difficult relationships with people and particularly loved ones, inability to achieve and know our life’s purpose, difficulty growing our mind with truth, and inability to experience genuine happiness, to name but a few of the important life areas impacted by truth and its absence. We often settle for less rather than more out of ourselves and life. Our distance from truth often prevents us from fully realizing the Divine Gifts we have all received. The Gifts of our life, creating our life, eternal life, and God within us.
Often, it is much easier to gravitate to faulty beliefs, values, and prejudices masquerading for truth. Sort of like taking a short-cut in living our lives that doesn’t really exist. Sometimes out of ignorance because we don’t know where to look or find it. Sometimes out of comfort so we don’t have to deal with the near term pain it can bring which can ultimately bring forth joy and happiness as we meet the truth we needed to know. Sometimes out of convenience which allows us to live in the illusion of happiness and a better life built upon lies and untruths we tell ourselves and others. This isn’t pleasant, but the truth seldom is until it has become part of us that we are connected to. So near yet so far away until we have chosen to awaken to it—within us.
Some of the best examples of those living at a distance from human and Divine Truth are: dictators, narcissists, victims, martyrs, racists, authoritarians, sexists, ethno-centrists, religious extremists, political extremists, sadists, bullies, perfectionists, sociopaths, hedonists, and cultists. There are plenty more but we think you get the idea. Lots of ego rooted issues going on in which inequality, separation, and unworthiness form the foundation of the truth they know or want to know. We may not be one of them, but we live with many of them, and they do have a destructive impact upon our lives, as well as their own, and will continue to do so unless they and we build a stronger bridge to truth. The truth that lies within and which we can only access for ourselves.
We are intelligent, spiritual beings capable of becoming better human beings! The elusiveness of truth has nothing to do with an absence of intelligence or the absence of the Love, Life, and Energy—God Is, within our being. It has everything to do with our ego energy and how it works, despite our intellect, our Divinity, and our desire to seek truth, to block us from looking inward. So close that we can even “touch it” by thinking it, but cannot be it. It is when the “volume” on the power, flexibility, or vulnerability of our ego energy is getting higher or lower that we gain distance from truth, reality, and ourselves. It is when our ego energy is imbalanced that ego illusions lead us to find truth in inequality rather than equality between ourselves and other forms of life, particularly fellow humans. It is when our ego energy is imbalanced that ego illusions lead us to find separation and difference rather than connection and commonality with the people we encounter or those from other places. It is when our ego energy is imbalanced that ego illusions lead us to find unworthiness within ourselves or others rather than worthiness which is our birthright as each of us is a child of God. Too much or too little ego power, flexibility, and vulnerability will get us to any of those distant places from truth—human and Divine.
The task of finding and being connected to our truth is often easier said than done. Which is why many look to others to find it for them or are pacified by faulty beliefs, values, attitudes, and prejudices being passed off as truth. Unless, we have a “map” to better understand ego, our own ego energy, and how to heal it from within, we will remain at a distance from truth—human and Divine. The bridge to our truth is not built upon ego-related ideas alone. They are only a launching point and guide for where we must look to find the truth from within. It is these ideas that we must connect to our experiences involving key life areas such as relationships, self-acceptance, achievement, happiness, and others, that only we can fully know. To gain a semblance of the volume existent in our ego power, flexibility, and vulnerability, if we want to see it. To see more of the change we must undertake from within to get to our truth, if we want to know it. To narrow the distance between truth and ourselves, if we want to live it. The more we see of ourselves, the narrower the distance between ourselves and truth—human and Divine.
From the perspective of Ego, Spirit & You, when we are able to shine light upon ourselves where there has been darkness, we can see the lies we have been telling to ourselves and others, often unrecognized, but nonetheless impactful upon our distance from truth. Light and truth are intimately linked and once they are revealed there can be no distance between ourselves and our truth—human and Divine.
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Ego Energy #63—The Best of Our Humanity
The Best of Our Humanity
Our Ego Energy is a mixture of three components—Power, Flexibility, and Vulnerability. The degree to which each is present or absent will impact the way we go about living our daily lives. In Ego Therapy: A Method for Healing Your Whole Self, we describe 125 different ego energies in an effort to help people find the ego energy they are living and determine if and where they need to undertake healing of their ego energy. From the perspective of Ego, Spirit & You, it is our intension to foster an awareness of all ego energies so we can ultimately live the great life we are meant to live! A life in which we are living the best of our humanity in concert with our Divinity.
This article is the one of a series to help you become more attuned to ego energy in the broader sense and to help you determine whether you or someone you know is displaying this ego energy. We believe that recognizing one’s ego energy places us an important step closer to understanding ourselves and each other which is integral to any healing which can occur—individually and societally—as well humanly and spiritually.
Ego Energy 63: Balanced Power—Balanced Flexibility—Balanced Vulnerability
This is the “ideal” ego energy. The one in which we are striking the healthiest balance within our ego’s power, flexibility, and vulnerability. A person with this ego energy has a healthy ability to interact with people. While being a follower or leader, depending on which is being called upon in a particular work, play, or social setting. We can approach relationships with loved ones in an interdependent manner. There are times when we can lean upon loved ones and lovingly depend on them for what they can offer to us or we can give to them. While, also being able to go it alone when necessary, without becoming distant or alienated from our loved ones. We can also love ourselves in healthy ways that allow us to love all others—known and unknown—as we manifest the Love, Life, and Energy—God Is, within our being.
We seek to achieve with all of the talents we have been given while undertaking our work with a sense of passion rather than burden. Within this effort we can see what we have learned along the journey and have been made better by it. We have no need to compare our journey with others, as such comparisons are meaningless. We have no need to build shrines to ourselves reflective of accomplishments for others to see. The service we are here to provide—human and Divine—has come into focus and we are realizing our life’s purpose.
The growth within the quality of our mind toward truth is healthy. It is within the flexibility of our ego energy that we can add, change, or remove thoughts, beliefs, values, and prejudices which belong or don’t belong there. The arbiter is always the willingness to be connected to truth rather than faulty beliefs. No matter how painful the reckoning may be. As we will ultimately be set free to live the greatest of lives by truth—human and Divine.
Our dealings with the inevitable personal, situational, societal, and technological changes that life will bring are in keeping with the understanding that life cannot and will not stand still. As the energy upon which it rests is dynamic rather than static. We work to manage change rather than avoiding, rejecting, or seeking to undo it. We embrace, honor, and follow worthy traditions which have wisdom to teach and serve us, while discarding faulty traditions that have been shown to be destructive and which were created to exploit people, wildlife, and the environment. We can also instigate needed change to address that which should not remain stagnant and unhealthy in our personal lives.
We can work with the adversity that comes in the form of failures, losses, and mistakes. Often, rooted in the imperfect nature of ourselves, others, and life which we have come to accept and learn from, rather than to avoid or reject. This work involves the ability to seek and understand relevant causes, owning what we must own in contributing to problems, and developing solutions which allow us to effectively solve problems and not just dealing with symptoms. The ultimate lesson having been learned that management of the problem is more important than the problem itself.
It is within this ego energy that we have the greatest opportunity to experience the abundance of genuine happiness that is available to us. We don’t accept substitutes for it in the form of pseudo-happiness. While understanding its ingredients include being at peace with oneself, others, and the world, being motivated by love rather than fear in one’s efforts, living in the present rather than being chained to the past or consumed with the future, and so on. Also, the gift of our other emotions including sadness, anger, fear, and guilt are playing their part in helping us to know when we are gaining distance from happiness or the direction we may need to take to get there.
The stressors and stress we encounter (e.g. financial, work, health, family, relationships, etc.) are being kept in perspective by our ability to understand and manage them. We react, rather than overreact or underreact, to their size, frequency, or seriousness, in ways that allow us to manage them, rather than letting them manage us and our lives. This includes the use of proven strategies, often rooted in the “wisdom of the ages” and the divine nature of our design such as healthy eating, exercise, rest, and recreation patterns, meditation, yoga, mindfulness practice, and cognitive therapy. Rather than quick fixes or approaches that often become unhealthy addictions including alcohol, drugs, over the counter medications, food, and cyber-related consumption.
Our management of conflict is healthy. We seek to use it as a tool by which to teach and learn from others. The difference between constructive and destructive conflict is well known and we disengage from the latter. Its signs include personal attacks and insults where nothing can be taught or learned, the focus of the issue/conflict/argument has been lost, and the emphasis is on “winning” while some degree of the relationship—if not all of it—has been lost. We can agree to disagree when no meeting of the minds can occur and remain friendly, if not friends. Never losing sight of the importance of cultivating or maintaining the relationship. EMNS-0/None.
If the description from this article resonates for you or someone you know, you may want to read further in Ego Therapy as well as our other books EgoSpiritualism: Awakening to Your Human and Divine Self and The Two Voices Within: Balancing the Energies of Ego and Spirit to Enhance Your Life. All three books are available on the Shop page Here.
In peace and love,
Nick and Linda