The Lift Doesn’t Last August 1, 2011
Posted by nrhatch in Humor, Mindfulness, People, Poetry, Spirit & Ego.trackback
Wikipedia ~ Hot Air Balloon (in Public Domain)
Ego puts itself down
Then waits for someone else to lift it back up
Using feigned humility and self-deprecation as bait, Ego fishes for empty compliments
Gobbling up proffered tidbits
of idle flattery
to feed its insatiable appetite
and bolster flagging self-esteem
Eating empty compliments
Is as nutritious as ingesting hot air
The lift doesn’t last
Ego deflates again, shoulders sagging
Then looks around
For its next fix
And if it crashes?
Wikipedia ~ Hot Air Balloon (in Public Domain)
Ego sits dejected
Until someone happens along
To pick up the pieces
No rules. Just write!
Related posts: Let Go, EGO! * WTF: Watch That Feedback * Pop Goes The Ego * Tell Me Lies, Tell Me Sweet Little Lies * The 2011 Sexiest Blog Award * I Am Truly Humbled * Taking the Bait . . . Hook, Line, and Sinker
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Spirit Lights The Way 
I’d say you are so right but I don’t want to flatter your ego 🙂
Bwahaha! What a conundrum . . . is Ego fishing for compliments as it reminds others that fishing for compliments is only a quick fix?
I’m with Tilly on this one, don’t want to praise you too much 😉
Slinks away dejected, muttering, Well, it wasn’t much of a post anyway. 😥
Oh what the heck, well said, Nancy 😀 BTW, I love that hot air balloon!
I love watching hot air balloons ~ we went to a balloon rally in NC and shot three rolls of film (in the days before digital), racing from one spot on the tarmac to another . . . as the balloons filled and took off one by one.
So colorful against the blue sky!
And so photogenic . . . as demonstrated in your recent post:
http://www.naomisnotes.com/2011/07/beware-balloons-can-be-addictive/
And ego eats up resentment and anger. Yum yum. So much for judging. Ego loves that too.
Love is the answer. Love is the only thing that will fight ego and seek truth.
Is this an OK comment to your compliment one?
Yes, it is. Ego definitely feeds on anger and resentment ~ taking offense and hanging on to it as long as it can.
Ego not only chooses to take offense, it broadcasts the offense in as wide an arc as its sphere of influence allows.
“Can you believe THEY did THAT to ME? Harrrummmpph”
If we attempt to alleviate the unnecessary self-created suffering by pointing out that Ego could choose NOT to be offended, Ego gets annoyed at us and creates still more unnecessary suffering.
Silly rabbit!
When we look at the world through the eyes of Ego, our view is distorted by judgments and prejudices. In contrast, when we look at the world through the eyes of Spirit, we see and accept people and things as they are . . . viewing them with Love, Kindness, and Compassion.
Aah . . . that’s better! 😀
Thanks, Clar!
I love that comment’s comment. Very good explanation of ego’s tricks and to what extent it’ll go to keep us in the old ego mind away from truth and love. 🙂
Part of the problem with “love” is that Ego’s idea of “love” is conditional on people acting in accordance with Ego’s wishes.
Ego projects how others should behave and “loves” them if they comply and “hates” them when they don’t.
We fall “in love” with the projections we’ve created . . . rather than unconditionally loving others as they are.
In time, Ego is disappointed because the “objects” of its affection never live up to Ego’s exacting specifications.
I think we all saw too much ego on display, in Congresss this past week. LIstening to the way they were talking, during the budget debate, they had millions of people fearing that they might not receive their social security payments; but it was all an act!
Regardless of any Congressman’s, or Senator’s, or even the President’s political views, none of them have come across as a hero, in regard to this. They were all a bunch of egotistical clowns!
Last week on the evening news, they showed a group of 5 average citizens working on the congressional budget, and they had a compromise worked out in just one hour. I think the basic difference is that the average citizens were actually working on the budget, not making speeches.
God save us from those who would save us!
Here’s hoping they’ve got things sorted out . . . for a time, anyway.
Whatever we pay them . . . it’s far too much.
Hot air either gets blown right back out or gives indigestion…a no win situation!
My favorite is “spammers” who pay me a compliment with the expectation that I’ll post it . . . along with their links.
Silly rabbits! 🙄
People who fish for compliments really irritate me… because you compliment them and they keep right on fishing…
I so agree. When I started the post, it began:
“I am tired of people who put themselves down . . . expecting me to pick them back up.” 😉
Erk. Succinctly put, Nancy. You’re so right.
My view on blogging endeavors is rather succinct:
If we are satisfied with what we’ve written, and believe it might resonate with others, we should feel free to share it ~ no preface needed.
If we don’t like something we’ve written well enough to let it “stand on its own,” we should keep it to ourselves and allow it a bit more incubation time.
What boggles my mind . . . when a blogger posts something prefaced with a disclaimer that it’s garbage, but they wanted to post it “just to see what others think.” Ack!
As a reader, what do you do in that situation? Agree with their assessment? “You’re right, it’s tripe!”
Or disagree and tell them that they are a genius . . . and just don’t realize their own brilliance? 😉
Sadly, the 2nd type of comment is becoming more the norm ~ the foregoing of honest feedback for shoveling B.S. at greedy Egos happy to lap it up. 😛
When I come across that type of blog, I stop following it. I want to exchange ideas . . . not insincere platitudes.
“Eating empty compliments
Is as nutritious as ingesting hot air”
Love that part!!!
It’s a bit of an addiction with some bloggers ~ they feel down, so they broadcast that information hoping that regular readers will rally round and “pump them back up with a bunch of hot air.”
Or they make self-deprecating comments about their writing . . . with the hope and expectation that others will disagree.
I suppose taking a ride on the Ego Boost Ride is one reason for blogging, but self-affirmations are a whole lot less effort with far better results . . . tailored to say exactly what you need/want to hear:
“I’m good enough. I’m smart enough. And my punctuation skills rock!” 😀
Eating ego is not a very nourishing meal. Yet, it is served in so many guises – from humility to arrogance.
Is carrying a mirror an act of narcissism or discipline? Only the carrier knows… Or so we think.
Tricky.
That’s true, Amy.
I can post something that a sensitive soul views as harsh and pointless criticism . . . when my intent was to share a different perspective on things to lessen self-created and unnecessary suffering.
If I know my heart was in the “right place,” their pleasure (or displeasure) with my words is largely irrelevant since my happiness hinges on WHO I am, not on WHO others perceive me to be. 😀
Life gives us gifts and your gift is writing and humor. It is so nice to stop here to read all the comments. You have a heart of gold and a smile that lights up the entire environment. Your words always bring inspiration to me. Jackie~~~
Thanks, Jackie.
Exchanging ideas and getting readers to think deeply about how they CHOOSE to interact with the world is what it’s all about for me. As I cruise the blogosphere, I see so much unnecessary suffering ~ people buying into the daily dramas created by their fragile Egos rather than relaxing into the flow of life.
When we master our thoughts, we master our life.
Aah . . . that’s better! 😀
Well, we all know who you are talking about, don’t we??? (Gobble, gobble! My! That was a tasty tidbit. Please ma’am, may I hae some more?)
TIOOMFC
Bwahaha! Gobble . . . gobble.
Your blatant in-your-face petitions and pleas for more and greater readership from each of the four corners of the globe is a far cry from what I’m talking about here.
I’ve yet to see you collapse into a puddle of tears expecting a White Knight to ride up and save you because things aren’t going your way at the moment.
That said, you do seem rather focused on cyber-world domination. 😛
Ahhhhh! I see you have discovered my Master Plan! Heh-heh-heh-heh-HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Oh, baracuda!
Ego is the enemy of love.
Ego has a role to play ~ reminding us that we are unique beings, not mere extensions of our parents. That separation is important, early on.
The problem arises later. We become habituated to seeing the world through the eyes of Ego (fear, greed, neediness) and forget what the world looks like through the far more generous eyes of Spirit.
It’s up to us to adjust the lens. 😎
This comment is trash, but I thought I’d see what you think anyway.
I’d give you a compliment on your call out of ego, but I’d hate to bloat your ego 😉
Arrogance is obnoxious, so I wonder if some people go for humility so they don’t seem too cocky? Just a guess. Personally, I often make fun of myself because it’s fun (not because I’m looking for flattery.) I don’t joke about my “real” writing, but if someone thinks it’s crap, I’d like the constructive criticism (as you’ve done before.)
This comment wasn’t my best work, but I’ll post something better next time.
Bwahaha! “Next time” it is! 😉
If we use our writing to poke fun at our cooking, cleaning, and habits (the good, the bad, and the ugly) . . . that’s, well, funny.
We aren’t expecting “strangers” to argue with us and refute our claims because they’ve never seen our cooking, cleaning, and habits of haute couture.
In contrast, if we poke fun at our writing in our writing . . . it may be that we want a “fix” of flattery or compliments or attention and have learned over time that others rush around and praise the worth of words faster if we denigrate our efforts first.
Ack!
I used to play the ego-lifting game. I’d feel sorry for someone I perceived as down and try to lift his/her spirits. I have found that is an endless pit of hard labor. Some people just demand a continuous supply of spirit-lifting. I don’t have the energy to handle all the people who want that kind of servitude. I’m better off teaching them tools to lift their own spirits.
Yes! That’s it. It’s like working on the chain gang. You think that once you help get them back on their feet again, they’ll be fine. But they aren’t. Because they LIKE the attention they get when they act like Eeyores ~ everyone rushing around being uber nice, etc.
They are addicts. We are their fix. 😦
So true, and then the cycle continues… best to massage ones own ego from the inside.
I love that colorful air balloon! What a riot. 🙂
Tommy the Turtle is full of hot air ~ but it suits him! 😉
Being schooled by Catholic nuns from Boston left no room for ego trips…more like guilt trips…a whole other bunch of tripe. Thank God (cause I don’t think He had any hand in it) I stripped the hair shirt off my back beginning a decade ago. Took a long time, but I’ve never looked back. Onward and upward…
i’m ready for heaven…ha, ha. 🙂
Good for you!
When we choose to let go of endlessly circulating and percolating toxic, negative, and/or non-productive thoughts, we free up time and energy to enjoy the here and now ~ a good strategy to follow, since most of what we worry, fuss, and fret about, never happens/happened anyway.