The House of Ego - Your Ungrateful Friend and Teacher...

17. House of Ego

Your ego is an ingrate.

Having ridden you

To despair’s end,

You run to his house begging entry,

“O’ ego! Give me shelter and rest, please”

In a furtive voice behind the door he replies;

“Go away! You are carrying the stink of your conscience.

Come back once you have forgotten your guilt.

Then we can parta-aay once again!”

The ego is a cunning creature. But it can also be overpowering and as overwhelming as a volcano. The ego may come unto you furtively, sliding close to your side, whispering sweet nothings, rationalising and giving a thousand and one reasons why you ought to do what your heart tells you not to do. Or the ego may come like a tide, sweeping you in a moment of passion, masquerading as your heart, lust or greed masked in the happenstances of love.

The ego is ungrateful. But however the ego moves you, once it has completed its task, it leaves you alone to mind your broken peace, your broken heart in miserable solitude. If you come to your ego for comfort, it will turn you away like a beggar. The ego will bide its time when you have passed through your sea of sorrow and regret. And if you forget your lesson, your ego will hook you once again with its bait of pride, lust, greed, envy, hubris and self-satisfaction.

Without the ego, we cannot learn humility. I cannot tell you how to learn your lesson, for we all have our path to face our ego along different milestones in our journey. It is not one single victory or defeat that will damn our happiness in this life. It is forgetfulness. The ego has already been cowed by God Almighty. Now it is through the ego and our interaction with it that we too shall learn our own humility and servanthood. For without darkness, who will recognise light? And if there is no sour, where is the sweetness? This is what I term 'tough love'. Tough but STILL love...

One day, we shall finish our school of life, may we come out of it as good servants to God and Mankind.

Have a helpful day, sunshine. God bless.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way