There is a misconception in this day and age that the ego is a bad thing that must be subdued or banished from our being… however, by doing this we are only ignoring a part of ourselves that is as relevant as any other… by casting out pieces of our soul, we find ourselves in states of imbalance in which we may become incomplete and lost. If we stay in these states too long, soul retrieval may become necessary in order to make ourselves whole again.

The ego is only negative when it is unrecognised and/or uncontrolled. Pride, anger and ambition are all very natural human states that need to be understood, accepted and loved for what they are… they need to be welcomed into our lives as a part of who we are. When accepted and dealt with, these ego traits are felt and channelled positively, allowing us to find our power centre and to grow stronger within ourselves - pride becomes self-love (not a bad thing!), anger becomes grounded and ambition instils in us a sense of worth. When repressed, these traits are channelled negatively and become self-destructive – pride turns to arrogance, anger to hatred and ambition to selfishness in achieving the goal.

It is important to note that the ego is essential in providing us with our identity and individuality. Without it, we would have no sense of self. Modern society is a place in which we are taught to follow the flock – “unchristian” values are frowned upon and we are encouraged to put ourselves down for it is seen as the “nice” thing to do, thus we live in a world where depression is ripe and stress is the highest killer… and we could help ourselves to avoid this if we only gave our ego a little nourishment, just a small acknowledgement that it exists. When you begin to see your ego for what it really is – something that cannot be separated from you – you will begin to see yourself as a unique being that, although equal to all others, is completely different to everyone else on the planet. There is only one of you, and that is a great feat worth celebrating.

Some of us will need to learn how to boost our egos, some of us will need to learn how to subdue it - but in both cases, the key is to first RECOGNISE it, then ACCEPT it as part of ourselves - the last thing we must do is pretend that it does not exist... what we like to ignore likes to turn around and bite us on the arse! This is your Higher Self's way of saying, "Hello...?! Am I awake down there?! I need to be paying attention to this!!!"

In this day and age, not enough people get told, "it's okay to be you..."

Unconditional acceptance of the self (including all of its negativities) leads to unconditional acceptance of others, for with it comes the realisation that we are all the same, and all completely different.