I was talking with a client about the ego and the soul and she asked a great question. Isn’t the part of us that we call ego – the “I want/I need/I’m angry/I’m afraid” and another version, “they’re wrong/they hurt me/why do they have more than I do?” – a bad thing we should try to get rid of?
Maybe not.
Maybe ego, like food, is a necessary and useful part of life on earth.
Food isn’t all bad…
Look at food. Many of us have a problematic relationship with food (I sure have had my issues with food – see last month’s newsletter). But when food finds its rightful place, which is to sustain life, it can be a pleasure and source of shared companionship.
Babies need an ego
I think ego also has a place in this life. It’s my personal belief that our souls exist before we are born and survive death. When souls are not in the body, they do not have limits imposed by this 3-D physical world. So when souls (babies) are born into this world, they need help navigating this physical existence.
So does everyone else
Ego is the right guy (for lack of a better term, sorry) for the job. It helps the soul manage the world.
It is the guy who says, “Better eat something; your body needs nourishment;” the guy who makes the To Do List; the guy who reminds you, “If you run out in the street in front of that car, that’s gonna hurt; don’t do that.”
Our soul purpose
I believe the soul has a purpose for its time on this planet; hopefully to learn some important spiritual lessons such as how to love in spite of adversity.
Who’s in charge is the question
Ego should not be the “Big Kahuna;” the soul should be. We get into trouble when we forget that the ego (the planner, evaluator, protector and guide) is there to assist the soul (the purpose for our life).
We forget who should be in charge
When the ego forgets that the soul is in charge, the trouble begins. And it’s natural, since that’s the voice you hear through the day. The ego is practical; it has answers; strategies; plans.
The soul communicates through dreams, heart yearnings, quiet thoughts when we’re walking the dogs; through hope and appreciation and joy. It doesn’t seem practical.
Most of us, myself included, end up letting the ego run the show. We don’t stop and ask what our soul purpose is for being here. And then we have some vague sense that something has gone astray.
What do we do?
Edgar Cayce, America’s Sleeping Prophet, asked people on a regular basis to think about what their ideal was for living. In the A.R.E. article, The Light of an Ideal, Stuart Dean and John Van Auken explain that “An ideal is a standard by which we measure ourselves: our actions, interactions, words, thoughts, judgments, and motivations.”
My recommendation to you is to make a commitment to put the soul back in charge. Some simple ways to do this are:
- Decide what your ideal is for this life and think about it daily.
- Cultivate gratitude, love, joy and forgiveness as often as you can remember to do it. Practice, practice, practice.
- Shaman Manin (www.veinsofsilver.org) recommends responding to all situations that upset or scare you by saying or thinking, “love, forgiveness, peace.” You don’t have to mean it – you just have to intend to mean it eventually. When I say it, I begin to feel peace and find some clarity about the issue.
- Picture moving your ego (I picture it as a little jewel) from your head/mind into your heart, where some of us think the soul resides. Imagine the ego being surrounded by the love and support of the soul. Imagine how relaxed it feels. I think the ego knows it’s not supposed to be in charge and when you allow it to relax in the heart/soul area, it feels incredible relief.
- Do physical things that bring you joy and really focus on amplifying the joy – singing, dancing, playing a musical instrument, running, cooking a great meal.
PS – I haven’t mentioned God on purpose.
I believe it’s a personal decision how you fit your relationship to a Higher Power into the soul/ego connection.
A Healing Story
This section will feature stories about healing modalities and experiences. If any of my clients want to provide a story, please contact me and we’ll share your story.
I’m Maribeth’s husband, Charlie. I got Hepatitis C from an unsanitary vaccination aboard a Navy ship many years ago. It was not diagnosed until after I retired, about eight years ago.
Hepatitis C affects the liver, causing cirrhosis, which eventually leads to a requirement for a new liver. It also adversely affects the spleen and pancreas.
Treatment options are limited.
Early on, I attempted a treatment plan that seemed like it almost killed me.
But it did decrease my “viral loading” (the number of viral particles in the blood).
After that, the doctors told me I would get sicker, get on a liver transplant list and hope for a new liver.
The medicine I take tries to manage my symptoms.
I made some lifestyle changes to ease the burden on the liver, whose job is to detoxify the body.
We went organic as much as possible.
I had already stopped drinking many years previously and quit smoking some time after I was diagnosed.
But I still had more bad days than good days.
Eventually I was put on the liver transplant list because of scarring from cirrhosis.
When Maribeth started her energy healing I felt it was worth the effort, so we started working on my health issues.
She asked the virus to leave my body, but if it was unwilling to leave, to become an ally to help keep me healthy.
She suggested that it protect me from other viruses and bacteria that were up to no good.
She reminded the virus that it’s in its best interest to keep me healthy and alive.
Naturally, I concurred in that thought too.
Today I am off the liver transplant list since my liver is too healthy to meet the criteria for a transplant.
The rate of liver damage has slowed down because my viral load is much lower.
My doctors cannot explain this and have dismissed the idea that some other process is working better.
I personally think that the periodic energy work, diet change, massage and talking to the virus has made a positive difference.