Welcome back my beloved readers. Thank God my examinations are over and hopefully all's well ends well. =) So are you ready for another serious discussion? Well as been narrated above, today's topic will be on principles and ego.
First of all, I would like to mention, I did once wrote about pride which could also be related to this topic but I find the term ego is more intriguing and thus today I'll be using a lot of the word 'ego'. Anyhow, back to the topic, how does one relate ego to principles? That is of course the main question. Secondly, how do you differentiate ego and principles? Last but not least what is it that drives one to believe in something so damn hard that he or she expresses the ideology that was actually planted in his or her mind by someone else as her own principle when clearly its only his or her own ego?
To answer question one, I would first like to ask this:- when you were growing up, did it ever occur an instance when a rival of yours comes up to you and dared you into a fight, and you answered with anger, you would do it because its not your principle to back down? Or maybe perhaps an instance in your life when a very handsome or gorgeous opposite sex comes into the picture and instead of trying to get to know him or her you solemnly swear in front of your friends that he or she is not really your type and its your principles never to talk to people that is not your type?
The truth... well only you would know... till now that is. =) Ego is a feeling deep within you where you feel the need to maintain your honor by not being humiliated. The thing about humiliation is that, since we were children, we've been brought up in a surrounding where rules are to be followed. Disobey the rule, then you are a humiliation. Even when we were children, the basics have been planted into our minds that whenever we do something wrong, we humiliate ourselves. A good example would be, when parents take their children to a restaurant and they drop a glass of water onto the floor, they will be scolded in front of the public just to inject their minds with the term 'humiliation' and as a result the mind starts to pull out excuses and one of them is the term 'one of my principle...'. In my first example, was it really the boy's principle talking when he said he's never backing down from a fight or perhaps just an excuse to avoid a public humiliation on his 'manliness'? Same thing goes for the second example. You feel intimidated and in awe with the beauty that lies in front that you feel so damn freaking unworthy and you start making up nonsense principles.
For the second question, how to differentiate between principle and ego. Well its actually easy to define both really. Before telling everyone that it is your principle to... (whateva), first ask yourself this. Do you really believe in it? Have you been practicing it the whole of your life? Are you a hypocrite for not doing (whatever that you believe is your principle) so? If all three answers are yes, then maybe it really is one of your principle. The trouble is what is if not? Well of course there's always a way to find out. Answer these three questions honestly. (Well maybe not to me but to yourself.) Are you doing so because you feel humiliated and you hate feeling that way? Is it because your angry with him or her that dared you, so damn freaking angry that is, up to the point that you feel the urge to prove him wrong? Perhaps you feel uncomfortable being the only one who is different and you never want to be left out? If either one of this questions has a yes answer to it, then its basically your ego speaking.
As mentioned before, the strong need to do something out of nothing, due to peer pressure or the humiliating feeling of being left out is what drives people to think the non obvious. Is it really your principles if you are forced to do something that you normally don't do? Or is it just your ego talking?
Never be mistaken my friends. Ego or should I say pride is important in building confidence and the motivation for one to move forward in life. Even so, there are instances when its best to leave the ego behind because ego can at most times do more harm than good. Trust me its not being cowardly to back from a senseless fight nor is it courageous for want to get involve in a business with a big risk just to prove to others that is your principal to never back down. Hey, live life within your own ability and never, I want to stress it here NEVER, let people pressure or push you around into believing something should be your principles when its really not.
Life's basic principles:- You are who you are and not who makes you. (Think about it...)
Cheerios... =P
Munawwir Khan Yusoff Khan
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