[himecthekWiff]

I think perhaps people don't understand what an "ego" is.






http://gonebrokeforgod.blogspot.com/...e-and-ego.html




Like all strengths pride comes from within. I have pride in being a good person, making good decisions and I have pride in my life. Ego is an outer belief. Ego is comparing your self to others and thinking "I am to good for them" or "I have pride in my history and roots". People veil this as "pride" but it is centered in judging others and comparing them to you. it comes from an insecurity in yourself.

Most People in school have pride in their good marks since it was a challenge for them to better themselves. When it is just to be better then others, it is ego. Pride is healthy and ego is not. Ego creates divides and puts some above others, in an unhealthy and judgmental light.

When I and a friend ended up in a homeless shelter in Ottawa, we were so drunk and stupid we had lost any pride in ourselves we could of held on to. All we had left was ego. When we talked to the guy at the desk we said "we are just drunk, we are not homeless" It was all just ego and condescension. If we had had pride, we could of graciously accepted the help offered and seen we were just like all the others. We just need a place to sleep. With our pride gone all we had was ego and our choice of words and feeling of threatened superiority showed that.

Pride has little to do with situation but HOW you handle the situation. Just because you are down and out, it does not mean you have no pride. Many of the poor have lost their pride due to the habits and the brokenness of their lives, but there are many who still take much pride in the work they do like "binners". They work all night getting the bottles out of the trash, to make their small wage, but they have much pride in the money they make and that they can provide a small income for themselves. That is pride. The ability to live your life in your way; To hold your head high.

The rich as well, rarely have pride. They only have ego. Ego is why they look down on others. It is due to their own insecurities about their lives. With true pride in who you are, you can be in any situation from the streets to the suburbs, and be secure in yourself. rarely though, do you see that pride, only their insecure egos.

When the Pharisees told Jesus not to associate with the poor, the lepers, the prostitutes, the tax collectors etc. it was an attempt to see an ego in Jesus. Jesus being perfect; had no ego, but only pride. If he had had an ego, he would of been just like the pharisees; full of themselves and their hypocrisy. In every action and the words of Jesus, there was pride, and a security in himself.

Ego and hypocrisy often come hand in hand. we are all troubled people, but most will hypocritically say "at least I am not like them." When in the back of there mind, they know their own imperfections. Being able to say "at times I have messed up in my life" or "I am a flawed being" does not mean you do not have pride. Being able to admit flaws is a sign of pride since you are not trying to cover up your weaknesses.

Pride can accept help, ego cannot. You can still be secure in yourself but need help. where as, when you have ego, you are not able to accept help out of worry. Ego worries about "what will I look like?" or "others will think less of me".

When someone says "you need to swallow your pride" they really mean swallow the ego. The "I can do it all myself" or the "I am too good for that" is just ego. Pride can ask for help and accept that you can not do it all yourself. Pride would not see itself as too good for a task, it would accept graciously and be PRIDEFUL in doing it well.

When I busk, I am very prideful of working hard and sounding good. When people say "have you no pride, playing on the street?" It is the opposite! There is pride in every aspect of being out there for everyone to see. Often though, I respond to their criticisms with ego and say "at least I am not like others who beg". Instead of defending my own actions, I criticise others and the choices they make, instead of being accountable for my own.

The sad part of society is that, everyone has ego, but many have lost all pride. The faith they have in their own actions as legitimate, is gone. The belief they are good is gone. The rich do not want to help the poor, since if they did, their ego would not be fed. the rich need the poor so they can have a have a false sense of superiority. If everyone had pride society would be a much more Even in the middle. But nay, The ones who have lost their pride rarely get the support they need to gain it back and to be happy in themselves. While on the other side, the rich need the pride-less to keep them on to and full of themselves.