Is it important to keep a constant perspective on your ego?
It’s very difficult in all of our daily lives to take a brief moment and put in perspective how small we are relative to he universe we inhabit. We don’t seek out that moment and make time for it because we all know the sobering truth: our singular existence here means infinitely little.
It’s scary. It sucks, actually. But it means that some hectic chaotic shit can go on. I’m a huge fan of the so-called butterfly effect because it means completely uncorrelated events actually do have some sort of connection. Whenever I play this scenario out in my head I inevitably come to the same conclusion every time- fuck around and do something great. Yes, it gets increasingly difficult the further down your stating position is here in the real world, but it’s is more than possible to constantly improve your position. No doubt there are things completely out of your hands, no matter where you find yourself in life, but so many more are completely within your realm of choice.
Ego comes in at this point to tell you that you are making the right decisions. But you have to be prepared for shit, and without prior thought and due diligence we leave ourselves open to becoming preoccupied and miss the target, doing things we wish we didn’t and not taking the opportunity to put in the work and taking that next rung under foot. We all know that feeling, which can come in any number of ways small and large, where we feel a certain feeling of validation. These ephemeral moments let us know we’re on the right path. And if you’re like me and don’t give yourself enough credit for the good things that come, those are the times to sit back and take a second to reflect- It’s well-deserved.
And those are the times to also remind yourself that you got there due in no part to those factors that were chosen for you by the powers that be. We all have to play the game, you just played your hand to perfection in that small sample size.
There is a Sanskrit term, usually spoken at the end of a mantra, Svaha, that I use as a reflexive reminder during times of stress and indecision. It's definition can be construed many ways depending on context, but I prefer to think, "into the fire". It's a verbal cue with dual meaning for me: charge forward into the unknown however daunting and difficult, but also, throw the bullshit aside and keep focused. That sort of stuff doesn't work for a lot of people, but I do find some value in it as a practice.
I’ve learned to not pay any mind to the sorts of things that are outside of my control- there’s just no value in it. It serves only as a masochistic and catatonic exercise that ultimately leads to rationalizing our lack of movement. Movement is the thing that keeps us striving and scheming. Keep moving. It’s like that John Wooden quote, “Be quick, but don’t hurry.” When you keep it moving and looking forward you don’t put yourself in the position to dwell on the past and choices we made in error or not at all. There’s always another move.