Tuesday, June 9, 2015

EGO – Let’s bury the hatchet and start living

The root cause of many strained relationships when analyzed would be “ego”. Not many can escape the problems caused by one’s ego. Many mountains have been made out of molehills in the past and also in the present due to ego.

How do issues arise out of ego? Well, it finds its way even between the best of friends, spouses, parent, child and any known relationship. A classic example for this would be between a father and a teenage son once the teenager enters the freshman year in college. This is the transition phase where a teenager believes that he is no longer a boy and he ought to be treated with respect. And this is the same phase where the father feels that the son should respect him more as he is still living on his money. In every college there would be at least a couple of students who don’t study well because of a strained relationship with their father or because they had to take up a study course against their wish due to the father's insistence. Some come out of it soon but for some it may be a lifelong grudge. And some end up becoming thugs. This ego clash is not limited to studies; many marriages are lifeless because they were arranged by parents against the wishes of their son or daughter. A lot of movies have been made in India that demonstrated the problems arising due to ego between two people.

In day to day situations too ego has played spoilsport. An insecure boss who can’t accept better qualities in his subordinate or a subordinate who thinks of himself as more efficient than his boss because of a few bad qualities in his boss is a common problem in office. Many lose their career or are unhappy with their job because of the ego.

Even between friends ego spoils the relationship. How many times have we really understood the feelings of a friend, colleague or an acquaintance? Even a simple eat out at a restaurant could leave someone hurt because of the subversive nature of a person, or a small get together of friends could leave someone hurt because of a joke that was a bit too harsh.

Are such ego clashes worth the time and energy spent on them. What if we forgive and forget them? What if we start everyday with a clean slate? Would it not be nice to live a burden free life?

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we bury the hatchet and start living with a light heart!

This article is written by Thiruvengadam Arasalwar. Follow him on Facebook here.