Are you reacting from a place of ego or is it deeper? Is it coming from a thought in your head or something more? To understand this, first we have to identify what ego is.

Ego:

-I am what I have.

-I am what I do.

-I am what other people think.

-I am separate from you.

-I am what’s missing from my life.

-Doesn’t like to be vulnerable.

-Doesn’t like not having control.

-Likes to be angry.

-Feeds on conflict.

This helps me, identify quickly that I’m reacting from my ego. Most thoughts that stem from ego begin with,“How dare you…speak to me that way or treat me that way. Or “Who do you think you are?” Feeling this way towards another is probably being directed from an angry place and you are offended in some way.

We’ve all been guilty of this. I just didn’t know when to recognize it before. I thought for years that ego was someone who walked around like they were better than you or bragged a lot. This is a form but ego, by definition, is larger than just that. Sometimes it can be more challenging to recognize it but if you have a larger understanding of your true-self then it becomes clearer.

How do we know if we are coming from a place of ego or something deeper? 

This is how I gauge it:

I really pay attention to my thoughts and emotions. By being in tune to this, I monitor my reactions and delve deeper. Sometimes, I have to step away to have time to not react. If I’m trying to separate myself from that person as if I am better than they are, it’s my ego. If I can look at their actions or words from a place of empathy, I know that it something real. If something really struck me in a painful way, I try to understand this within myself.

Obviously, if they’re triggering me, there’s something I need to address in my subconscious. I turn away from justifying it with thinking, it’s because they did such and such to me. The real work isn’t trying to figure someone else out, it’s knowing who you truly are. Knowing your true-self is knowing that your identity is of your own inner spirit. When I’m able to identify this, I understand the other person or situation more. I then know if this is a person or circumstance that I can walk away from peacefully and sometimes permanently.

Please share, if you have more to add or comment.

Love, Light, & Blessings,

Janelle