I am the centre of the universe.

Your ego or the false self can be your greatest enemy because it prevents you from seeing your own flaws or mistakes. This shortsightedness however does not stop you from being able to see everyone else’s mistakes, no matter if they are big or small.

Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?

Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew‬ ‭7:3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Ryan Holiday explains this eye opening paradox in this short video based on his book, The EGO is the Enemy.

This idea immediately resonated with me as I looked back on my own experience.

The past 4 years after migrating to Australia, I have literally had to reinvent myself. I spent the first 16 months looking for work with zero success. At the end of it, I felt totally defeated and at rock bottom with no money or hope to continue. I was ready to pack up my bags and head back to Kuala Lumpur.

I felt like a failure

The hardest part of moving was having to leave my old self or ego behind. I was at the top of my career having worked for 7 years in a multinational energy company in 3 different roles including an overseas assignment.

I was used to doing what I was good at, getting paid top dollar and being rewarded with great perks. And now here I was not even being able to secure a job, any job and provide for my family.

This intense drawn out experienced over more than a year stripped me of my old self and made me question my identity and changed the way I looked at myself and others.

I began to realise that I was my own greatest enemy and harshest critic. I needed to let go of the past and move forward. Admit that I had made mistakes, was not perfect and take one day at a time, come what may. But my ego was holding me back.

Eventually, I did find work and managed to move forward with my life. But the lessons I have learned from that experience is seared in my mind, body and spirit.

Meditation as a practice to keep the ego in check

The practice of meditation allows you to create a space between stimulus and response so that you can choose how to respond (rather than react) to whatever circumstances that come your way.