Ego is a personality trait which everyone is reluctant to confess, yet most of us possess it, whether in tinge or large.
Dharma defines ego as a person’s sense of ‘I.’ It can be informally understood as thoughts of superiority about one’s own actions. While on the very first view, it may seem to be a necessary trait of one’s personality, then why has it earned such a bad reputation?
Religion considers it as the blockage to one’s spiritual progress and advises to root out this evil as soon as possible. But the question arises whether really ego is that bad?
It is a strong argument that an egoist is a person thinking highly about himself/herself, which is very good. Additionally, in challenging situations, a person with a high ego is likely to keep his/her head high even though the odds are against them.
If the ego is so helpful, then where does the problem persist? On observation, it may pop that problem is not with ego but with its close buddies- pride and jealousy.
Pride
Too much self-confidence may eventually lead to overconfidence and ultimately to the notion that you can never be wrong, you are all superior to others. We call it pride. This pride is the prime cause of downfall for many great empires and personalities.
Jealousy
No one likes to be trailed behind or defeated, but there will be times when you will find someone/something better than you, or you will make mistakes. Jealousy will not let you see those flaws, eventually paving the way for self-destruction.
However, ego can’t be given a clean chit for pride, and jealousy is the result of over ego. No matter how much confidence ego gives you, it ultimately makes you a complicated personality, which seems hard to get along with.
Our time right now has portrayed ego, aka attitude, as to be something possessed by heroes, and it’s like a prime necessity to become an influential personality. Ego may surely give you some charisma, but be cautious of the fact that Ravana, the most powerful ruler and extraordinary scholar, was destroyed by nothing but his over-ego. This fact only reminds me of below words:
“Those who don’t take lessons from past mistakes are condemned to do it in the future.”
