The word 'ego' has both a positive and negative connotation. Some individuals associate the word with pride, while others refer to a positive sense of self. For this post, I will talk about the latter.
Your ego is simply feedback from your assessment of the self. If you think highly of yourself then you may come across as being egocentric or haughty. If you think less of yourself then you might walk around feeling less important than the man or woman next to you.
The trick is in finding the sweet spot between being an arse-hole and a pushover. Personally, I don't think highly of myself but I believe in my abilities.
I don't recall having the best self-esteem as a child. I was mostly shy and reserved. That hasn't changed much even till adulthood. However, I view my self differently than I did back then.
I guess what changed for me was my relationship with myself. This relationship started around my early teenage days when I was stripped of everything I knew and dumped in boarding school.
It was a terrible experience and it did impact my self-esteem negatively but the whole experience made me more aware of my self. This awareness turned into curiosity which set me on the quest for knowledge.
My ego is built on knowledge. I am certainly not the smartest person in the room but I am curious enough to learn a thing or two. This has been my approach to everything in life.
Through my curious inquiry of the world around me, I have built confidence--my ego--in the things I know. And this much I know: knowledge is power.
I think I am most vulnerable when I am in the dark/unknown. Ignorance is not an option. To stay active and relent in this time and age, one must be informed.
Being in the dark does put me in a vulnerable place and affects my self-esteem. This is because I do not know what to expect or how to prepare, which explains why I am usually anxious about the future--it is a place filled with so many unknowns.
I counter my fear of the unknown by holding on to the things that are within my grasp. This entails being present. In such moments where I am present, I feel confident and alive.
So I hope this post helps you think differently about the theme of this week's content. I have seen a few posts about the negatives of the ego, so it was just an attempt to change the narrative. Cheers!