Training the Ego: The Need to be Mindful

“Mind Full v. Mindful” by ForbesOste is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Lesson Two

The Need to be Mindful

The need to train our ego, by watching ourselves, what we think, what we do, what we think about those things, this is called being mindful.

We need to hold in our mind a strong idea of who we are, and also how we want to be in future. This means that we need to think about how we should act, and behave, in order to be ourself.

I need to watch how I think and act,

I need to think about how I react.

I can do this by being mindful of myself

By taking things slowly

So I know what I’m doing

It’s simple, really, this idea,

All I have to think about, is, “Is this me?”

In order to do this, we need to make sure that all of our thoughts reflect that strong idea of our true self, currently.

Scary thoughts

Ego hides parts of you, from you,

These parts that scare or hurt you.

Those that you ask ego to hide away.

So that what you can’t face,

Stays out of sight, in another place.

Ego keeps them there,

Under lock and key.

This ability of ego, to hide away our bad memories, lets us be happy, and avoid feeling bad. But those thoughts build up, and sometimes, our poor ego can get confused. It may need you to help it, keep things under control.

Hidden thoughts shape your “shad-ow.”

A secret place, so you do not know.

You may not see them,

But still, they can touch your thinking.

They can change how you think your ego works,

They can steer your mind, making it hurt.

This is why, you need to be kind to yourself,

This is why, you and your ego, need to become best friends

Lesson Affirmation

I will teach my mind to value silence

Set a firm intention with yourself to get to know how your ego works, by watching yourself, how you think, speak and act.

Appendix – Additional Notes

Ego also has the function of hiding from us aspects of self that we find distasteful, frightening or painful. In other words, what we can’t accept, what we try to push away from out mind. Those aspects of self which are hidden from us by ego are often called “Shadow” aspects, and its widely accepted that whilst we can be blissfully unaware of their existence, they still impact our ego, and therefore our thoughts.