LIFE.
SPIRIT VS. EGO
SPIRIT vs. EGO
Has it ever felt that there were two opposing forces inside of you, each
pulling in opposite directions?
One, simply loves life and people, and is endlessly curious about exploring
and experiencing the world. This "energy force" is ALIVE and free,
creative, expressive, abundant and playful. This part of ourselves guides
us calmly and adeptly through new and challenging experiences. Its
guidance doesnt come from the "heads thinking"; IT is much more
powerful, wise, clear and knowing than the mind. Intuition, heart,
inspiration, love, joy and peace are associated with this energy. When we
access IT, we feel warmth, serenity, centered and connected to the world.
Life flows. Were fulfilled, fully self-expressed, and every moment IS a
"magic moment". When we live from this space, we KNOW -- "all is well"
and life is a joy.
I call this energy force "spirit" or soul. And, its always there for us to
access.
The other "energy force" is more practical, cautious, judgmental, and
protective. This force wants to look good for others, or at the very least,
avoid looking bad. "It" likes to control, although pretends that its not. "It"
views the world as a potentially harmful place, fears being hurt and
exposed, thus remains separate, isolated and closed from others. It
blames, criticizes, compares, and makes excuses. "Should" is one of its
favorite words. This energy looks for answers from its mindalthough
often confuses "reality" from something "made-up". Living isolated within
the confines the body; "it" mostly just wants to be "safe" and
"independent".
I call this energy force "ego". And, it too, is always there for us to access.
Weve all experienced both of these forces in our life. As human beings,
we need both to
exist. Spirit is the "life force energy" that is about experiencing,
creating, expressing and connecting in this world, while the ego is
more like a "body guard" or "tour guide". The Egos job is to keep the
physical body safe, and guide your "spirit" through the journey of life.
However, it often oversteps its duties and responsibilities.
Most people dont realize the nature of these two individual forces, and
continue to struggle between these two energies. Sometimes, it feels like
we have split personalities, but rest assured this is part of the human
design. The Ego is much more forceful when it comes to being in control,
and thus plays a more dominant role in our livesoften suppressing our
true Spirit. Spirit shows up sporadically for most, when we let our our
"thinking minds" go, spend time in nature, engage in something creative,
meditate or get desperate enough to seek assistance. Have you noticed;
as soon as you "surrender" solutions appear? When you become more
conscious about the nature of these forces, you can learn to access this
all-knowing, wise and powerful force in your life more consistently. The
result is a life with MORE peace, joy, love, abundance and creative flow
and LESS stress, overwhelm, scarcity and fear.
DISTINGUISHING - Ego from SPIRIT
Since the Ego can be sneaky in its expression, its important to recognize
its nature. Ive included a list below of Ego characteristics and its "Spirit
counterpart". SEPARATION is the common theme to each word set below.
The Ego strives to keep you separate from the world, separate in
relationships and separate from your Spirit and its full self-expression, joy
and inner peace. It does this through resistance, restriction, blaming,
being self-righteous and fearful. The ego also expresses itself as
"neediness", which is a form of separating from self (separating from your
power)believing that YOU need something "over there" to complete you.
The ego has many faces, all working to keep you "separate".
Separation vs. Connection
Mind vs. Heart
Victim vs. Taking Responsibility
Excuses vs. Results
SHOULDS vs. Inspiration
Resistance vs. Acceptance
Restricted vs. Freedom
Confusion vs. Clarity
Suppressed vs. Fully Self-Expressed
Worry vs. Anticipation
Stuck vs. Creativity
Stressed vs. Peace
Frustrated vs. Resourceful
Protection vs. Vulnerable
Fear vs. Love
Laziness vs. Nurturing
Doubt vs. Trust
Scarcity vs. Abundance
Shut-down vs. Open
Shame vs. Acceptance
Apprehension vs. Courageous
Struggle vs. Flow
Take the first word in each pair. Perhaps you already recognize how
familiar they are to youas it is for most human beings. Imagine living
your life predominantly from these states of being -- a life of separation,
"should", confusion, restriction, resistance, etc.? How would that feel?
Yuck. Unfortunately, this is how 83% of the population lives (read Power
vs. Forceby David Hawkins)
Take the second word in each pair. Imagine living a life lived
predominantly from these states of being? Joy, peace, love, creativity,
freedom and full self-expression. While its not the norm of today, it is
possible. Only 17% of the population access this way of being, and are
still subject to the grips of the Ego.
CULTIVATING Connection with Spirit
How can we access "spirit" so that it naturally becomes the dominant
energy force in our lives? How can we maximize the peace, joy and flow in
our lives? Below are 7 Keys to get started.
1. Get Present. When were truly in the present moment, we have great
access to Spirit. When were focused on the past, feelings of regret,
pain and turmoil can overtake us, cutting us off from Spirit. When
were focused on the future, we often get distracted in feelings of
worry, hope and fear. starving our energies from creating NOW. It is
in the "present moment" where we find peace, joy and connection to
Spirit.
1. Choose High Vibrations Consciously choosing high vibration states,
such as peace, joy, love, appreciation, generosity and other "good
feelings" strengthens connection to Spirit, and deflate the Ego.
Anyone that teaches about manifesting abundance always
emphasizes the focus on "good feeling states". Like attracts like. The
book Power vs. Forcequantifies energetic qualities on a scale of 1 to
1000. In addition to empowering emotional states, you can raise
your energetic vibration through movement and exercise, drinking
water, practicing random acts of kindness, meditation, laughing,
spending time in nature and contributing to others. David Hawkins
second book The Eye of the Ialso talks about additional ways to
cultivate higher energy states.
1. Take Responsibility through Conscious Choices Our Egos like to play
"victim", and lead you to believe that youre not powerful or at
choice in the matter. Drama. Drama. Drama. No matter what the
circumstance, there is always a powerful, responsible choice
available. What do you need to ask for? What do you need to let go
of? Whose help could you request? Whats the next step you could
take? What is your ultimate outcome? When you take responsible
action, you are "responding to Spirit". Don't be a victim, make a
conscious new choice.
1. Radically reduce "thought. For most people, this is a tough one. Our
human ego-dominated minds like to run non-stop. Many of us
assume that "thinking" is intelligence. But, are you doing the
"thinking", or is "it" thinking you? Even the most intelligent minds
must ultimately learn to break free of "thought", finding stillness -because this is where true freedom lies. It is only in the "stillness" of
mind where a different type of "thought" appears and our connection
to Spirit comes alive. Eckhart Tolle, author of Power of Nowwas asked
what his greatest accomplishment in life wasand his answer,
radically reducing the thoughts in my mind
1. Humility Ego is about being right, criticizing, judging and making
others wrong. Stepping into "humility" is the fastest way to release
the egos grip. (readEye of the I).Admitting critical, judging or selfrighteous behavior is liberating. Stepping into "not knowing" is more
powerful than "being right". Read the article on "Humility" from
Soulfully Living Issue #25.
1. Listen to Spirit In my Mastermind Group, we explored, "How do you
tell the difference between the "spirit voice" and the "ego voice"?".
Simply put, the ego voice is almost always associated with feelings
of angst, resistance, doubt, fear, questioning, guilt and confusion.
Spirits voice is clear, wise, knowing, precise and brings peace, more
often serves your Greater Good.
SOULFUL CHALLENGE: One of my favorite practices is to "just act on
Spirits voice. Throughout the day, consciously listen for Spirit to guide
your decisions. Clear your head, ask for guidance, and LISTEN. Then, act.
Its important to act quickly, before your Ego can jump in and start
analyzing Spirits request. Just trust and go with it. If Spirit doesnt
respond immediately with direction, just wait. An answer will show up.
Then act. Try this for ONE WEEK. Every time I make this conscious
commitment, Im amazed at where Spirit leads me. Often it doesnt make
sense in the moment, but then becomes clear later. The gifts are
incredible. Try this!
1. Commit to the Process To cultivate a deeper relationship to Spirit,
and radically reduce the control of Ego in your life is a process. Life
gets in the way. Youll notice yourself getting stuck, being fearful,
resisting life, and blaming others. But, as you deepen your
commitment to the process, you will find youre able to recognize the
destructive and unconscious patterns in your life more quickly, and
make responsible, conscious choices to take empowering action.
Author: Mary Allen. Mary Allen, CPCC, MCC is Americas Inner Peace
Coach, author of The Power of Inner Choice and host of Conversations
with the Masters interviewing best-selling authors, speakers and coaches
including Dr. Wayne Dyer, Caroline Miss,...Go Deeper | Website
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