Been thinking about ego and all the damage it does.  I suppose it stems from an awful mix of narcissism, cowardice (at its root), and lack of true self-awareness.  Obvious consequences include goal/task failure, hurting others, and the inability to make progress that benefits the people in religion, politics, the work place - and, I suppose, nearly every human activity.  The antidote is manifold and the way difficult.  I’d like to propose some (well)known and lesser known thoughts on keeping the few positive aspects of ego and diminishing the influence of the negative aspects:

1.  Ancient wisdom - KNOW THYSELF! This is a life-long quest and requires the inner courage to really hear others.

2.  Consider others before self. Not in a naive manner, but in considering the idea that how and why we arrange our outer world will come back to influence each of us individually.

3.  Have a focus beyond yourself - to a greater being.  In part this is accountability, in part an acknowledgment of something greater than you and your immediate needs.

4.  Have intentional “meta-narrative” goals. What would you like the people and situations within your sphere of influence to experience  If it is peace, then be peaceful - even when it doesn’t serve your immediate instincts.  If it is love, then love others more than yourself.  Be explicit here.

5.  Recognize that this is work - hard, iterative work marked by frequent failure and infrequent success, at first.  The goal is to tip the balance toward successes (your intentional goals), over time.

This is a journey, and the way is different for each of us.  But commonality is apparent - and the biggest stumbling block toward achieving a better world for all of us - is us!  And the root cause of so many of our ills, it seems to me is  - ego.