Confession time: I used to be scared of my ego.

Or rather, the concept of the ego that I had been taught by spiritual teachers, self-help books and therapists. Maybe you’ve heard about this ego concept—that there is a part of us that tries to “take us out”, that is not looking out for our best interest, and that we must guard and protect ourselves against.

It sounded like a scary monster or a religious teaching complete with a Hollywood movie storyline —something “bad” is out to get us and if we aren’t careful, it will.

It just didn’t feel right to me.

In fact, it felt like it was in direct conflict with what I knew at my core to be true. We are all beings of Light, created from Source Light. We are designed to expand, to experience the fullness of life and to come to know this as our true nature—living fully from that place. It hardly seemed possible that we also came hardwired with an entire part of ourselves that was intent on keeping us from exactly this.

A part of us that we had to fight or do battle with.

This concept of belief ate at me. I recognized that as a human being on an evolutionary journey—I did and would continue to come across limiting beliefs and fears within myself. Aspects that if indulged in or believed in could and would hold me back. But this belief that there was a whole part of myself called the ego that was sidelining me—felt like a huge sidelining belief in and of itself.

I started to play with this possibility: what if the concept of the ego wasn’t what previous humans had thought? What if instead of this thing we have to be afraid of or guarded against or careful of was simply conditioning that needed to be released to clear the clutter within, clutter that was simply covering over our true nature as the divine beings of light and love?

Nothing to conquer or transcend or fear. Just simple conditioning that we could release with ease.

Ooohh…what a relief.

I felt my body relax and soften, and a chill came over me.

Without the concept of the ego—guarding against it, watching for it, making sure I wasn’t being “egoic”—I had a new sense of freedom. I could stand powerfully in my truth, I could speak the fullness of who I was, I could move forward without being worried that I was falling into “egoic” behavior and that my “ego” was driving me. I could trust myself more.

In short, I was empowered. I had returned back to my Divinity by letting go of a concept that was disempowering.

I remembered that human consciousness is evolving. And in this evolution we have come to the point where the concept of ego no longer brings us freedom. It is a concept that keeps so many of us from shining our brightest light—when shining our brightest light is exactly what the world needs all of us to be doing.

To shine our brightest light, we must be aware of and get curious about our conditioning—those limiting beliefs and fears that all of us have accumulated on the path of our life. The good news is that all of this can be released with great ease. It’s not something to fight against, merely something to notice. We can notice our limiting beliefs, traumas, and fears, and then we can release them. We can release them with a trusted practitioner or through any healthy means that feels most aligned to us.

I am so inspired by the thought, by the possibility, by the knowing that more of us than ever can be free of this limiting concept and step into our truly empowered selves. We can follow our soul’s desires with ease. We can live the life we truly came here for—a grand life, a brilliant life, a life where our light shines brighter than ever before.

So, join me if you feel the call. Try this abundant way of living.

How deep and abundant could your life be without the concept of ego?

Author: Heather Strang

Editor:  Renée Picard

Photo: Hartwig HKD at Flickr