A classic egoistic person believes in rigidity. They forget - 'everybody makes mistakes, only the wise learn from them'.

Ego can hurt your health badly. According to a University of Michigan study, egotistic people had higher levels of hormone named 'cortisol'. Other than stress, it can lead to chronic conditions such as heart disease and stroke. Too much cortisol ultimately may raise insulin levels, putting one at risk for diabetes.

It is said that ego is a disease that makes everyone sick except the person with the disease. Ego is just like smoking a cigarette. Smoking a cigarette makes you feel better for a short time like nurturing ego. It keeps you from feeling worse very temporarily. But you would feel best if you did not smoke at all. And without ego, you do not require telling lies or showing off your unreal habits and that saves a lot of energy. You have to stop lying to yourself and then your self-consciousness will be pure like natural mineral water from the top of the mountain. You will be able to work hard to cover up for your poorly concealed complexity.

One of the secrets of success of great people was defeating their egos. Like Buddha gave clear instructions on how to understand the ego and how to reduce its influence over us. God says I may forgive your sins committed towards me but if you hurt a human, only they can forgive you in the hereafter and I cannot intervene on their behalf. In religion, duty towards fellow humans has as high an importance as towards God.

Did you notice? People with ego love to use 'I' instead of 'we' all the time. In fact, killing one's ego gets one in tune with reality. Killing ego is as important as killing bad habits of a lifestyle. Let's defeat our ego before ego defeats us.

E-mail: rubaiulmurshed@gmail.com