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Here is a direct quote from the 72 Names of God.
"We're in prison and we don't even know it!
'Prison?' you ask.
Unquestionably.
We're hostages to the constant pressure to out do friends and colleagues. We're
in bondage to our reactive whims and self-absorbed desires. We're captive
to our jobs and financial pressures. We're prisoners to other people's perceptions
of us. We're incarcerated by our need for other people's acceptance.
Want to break out?
The ego is the foundation of all forms of misery. It compels us to convince
others that we're right, even when we're wrong, and even when we know we're wrong.
Ego gives us the illusion that we act freely, but in reality we are captive to its
desires.
When a person denies that he or she has an ego well, that is just the ego hard at
work, doing its job, patrolling the prison grounds.
If an individual cannot recognize his or her own ego in a situation, the ego simply
blinded the person by placing this individual into solitary confinement."
I could not have put it better. Ego is like a ball and chain that limits
our ability to choose our own life style. Instead of being the director of
our lives we become the actor that must do what the script tells us to do and act
the emotional part that the writer wishes us to express.
The first real step to taking control of your life is to acknowledge that you are
not in control of your life unless you are doing, acting, and being exactly the
way you always dreamed life should be. Just realizing that there is a problem
is a huge step because your main detriment to freedom is simply not recognizing
that you are imprisoned.
The second step and the hardest step is to figure out a way not to forget what you
just learned and then immediately forget it. We all forget, and we forget
the things that are unpleasant the quickest. The fact that you are imprisoned
is a very unpleasant idea and your ego will quickly try to make you stop thinking
about it, and will convince you there is plenty of time to think about this problem
later.
So if you have a To Do list put it at the top so you will see it every day.
Or put a note on the refrigerator or if you have a calendar program have it remind
you once a week or so. Do something or reading this secret will simply vanish
as quickly as it appeared.
Then finally take a moment or two each day to review just how hard your prison is
to escape from and make a plan for the day. You will not be able to just escape
without a plan and some hard work to make the plan come true. If you are not
willing to make an effort then you might just as well forget this whole lesson on
happiness and simply resign to a life time of imprisonment with no chance of lasting
and fulfilling happiness.
By the way reading one of these secrets each day can be a great way to expand your
mind and give it the tools you will need to make the great escape. A good
start is the secret named Order. |