The ego is a kind of demon that devours its children; it’s like Saturn in Goya’s painting.
Saturn was the titan of Roman mythology who, for fear of being removed from the throne by one of his sons, ate them as they were born. However, his wife hid her sixth child, Jupiter, then wrapped a stone in children’s clothes, which she gave to Saturn as a child. When Jupiter rises, it removes Saturn from power and locks it in a dark region at the end of the earth called Tartarus.
Like Saturn, the ego has no feelings for anyone. He only cares about himself, he doesn’t try to understand anything, anyone.
Our ego pushes us to make decisions that take us away from others, from our purpose, from what is good for us. It prevents us from seeing other perspectives, from listening to others, from accepting other cultures, other preferences, it makes us no longer want to forgive, we look at a situation from the outside.
I recently saw a movie where two friends were talking. One tells the other that she made a big mistake when she gave up her husband who had once cheated on her. He gives her all the reasons, shows her what she had done wrong, and then shouts at her: you don’t know what it means to forgive. In a relationship between two people, forgiveness is essential, so that you can continue!
Forgiveness is necessary for both the personal and the professional area. How many times do we get upset, annoyed, disappointed at work? And yet, we take a deep breath and ask ourselves, ‘What do I appreciate about this man? Why have I been working with him for so long? What brought us together? What makes it important to me? What blinds me so badly that I can’t see what I appreciate about him? ‘
In general, the ego and pride are to blame.
We forget what united us, we forget what we appreciated about the other, a mistake becomes like a snowball, we start to see only flaws until the air between us becomes unbreathable. What if we looked at ourselves from the side, kept our own monster in check, and saved ourselves and others? Otherwise, a fate similar to that of Saturn awaits our ego, sooner or later.