Overcoming the Ego-mind

I have two parallel stories here I’m going to try to blend for you…

Scene 1:  A couple weeks ago I was on my way to work in Columbus and therefore had about an hour’s drive of “thinking time.” Now, I’ve learned that this can either be a time of great peace or joy… if I so choose. Or it can be a time in which I let my ego-mind have it’s reckless way with me. That morning I had gotten triggered by some message of fear. I believe I had fallen into the worry/fear of another’s judgment.  Perhaps I had made some insignificant mistake but let this shortcoming grow into this larger than life problem. Ironically, I can’t even remember the specifics of that which I allowed to rob me of my joyful ride to work. It seemed to creep in stealthily and took over my peace before I had time to evaluate and stop it.  

Scene 2: While I’m driving, my husband, Jere, is still home in bed trying to catch up on sleep from a very late night of nursing. Our sweet beagles, Lillie and Mazzie, are wanting to go in and out the back door. We have a large fenced-in backyard and there is all kinds of intriguing wildlife sneaking around the bushes and gardens. Some days they go in and out so many times we don’t even remember, “who’s in? who’s out?” Jere was in a deep sleep and so he stumbled to the door and let them both out and shuffled groggily back to bed. Things were quiet for a while as he drifted back to sleep.  

And then, somewhere in his dreaming state he began to notice barking. He tried to ignore it. He fell back to sleep. It got louder and LOUDER and LOUDER and soon he was wide awake and finally aware that something was going on outside. He peered out the back door and noticed a commotion in the far garden. With his bathrobe and slippers on he made his way out and across the yard to find our sweet Lillie in a stand-off with the biggest groundhog he had ever seen. Mazzie, a little older and more timid was watching from the side. Of course, as soon as he tried to intervene, the attack ensued. 

There was blood. There was tumbling in the bushes and attack on both sides. Both the groundhog and Lillie were all in. He tried to separate the two with a shovel but as soon as he got Lillie away then Mazzie would corner the groundhog on the other side giving Lillie a chance to advance once again. While they were tumbling and biting it quickly became apparent that this battle would not end until someone lost. Sadly, it needed to be the groundhog. Once the groundhog lay lifeless and motionless, Lilly finally release her grip and allowed Jere to move it carefully to the other side of the fence.   

Lillie came into the house exhausted, shaking, covered in blood, with ominous wounds on her face. He cleaned her up and she spent the rest of the day recovering.  

Scene 1: It wasn’t until I sat in session with a client who also had been triggered by the ego-mind that the truth revealed itself to me. First, I noticed that whatever was happening for her, she had attached her sense of worth to. She let a situation become a reflection of her worth. Now, that’s the quickest way for the ego-mind to move in on it’s secret attack. We have an issue that arises; perhaps we’re worried about a child or someone we care about seems to have rejected us or doesn’t behave as we had hoped or we fear we disappointed someone or we get upsetting news….the list is endless. Whatever the upset is, the ego-mind moves in by creating this underlying sense of dread or shame or fear because we unknowingly attach it to our worth. It sneaks in like a groundhog in the midst of our seemingly harmless and quiet slumber. Subconsciously we’re thinking, “if I were good enough, this wouldn’t be happening or I could fix this”…or some version of this.    

When the ego-mind moves in to threaten the light in us, it’s like the battle with the groundhog.  Someone has to lose. Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be so bloody. As soon as my client recognized she had attached her sense of worth to the situation, she freed herself to again listen to the always loving, compassionate Voice of Love. The Voice of   always reminds us that we are more than enough and worthy just as we are. The ego-mind doesn’t stand a chance when we allow ourselves to tune into the Voice of .

As soon as I saw the battle ensuing in my client, I knew instantly I had done the same thing! The groundhog of the ego-mind had rob us both of our peaceful morning! We simply had to acknowledge its presence and then listen more closely for the Truth of . Therein do we know we are loved beyond measure, deeply worthy, and there is nothing we need to do to earn that. God’s will for us is our perfect happiness which comes in recognizing we are already whole, complete, and One with . There is nothing that will ever change that. We just need to allow ourselves to remember.  

As I was driving home from work that day, Jere told me about the trauma that transpired that morning. I was marveling at the parallels of both that battle and my own morning battle, as well as my client’s. Jere then laughed at the analogy and said, “You know what the real kicker is? When I went outside the fence to mow, I walked out to move the groundhog before I started. It was gone. It’s still alive!” We both had a good laugh. That is so like the ego-mind. Just when we think we have it beat, it creeps back in! And so we must all remain vigilant to watch out for the groundhog….I mean, the ego-mind!  

The message I received from  this morning was simply this: