Are You A Frog In A Well?

Are You A Frog In A Well?

In many ways, many of us are just like a frog in a well, looking up at the limited sky above, in that we see only ourselves, and no one else, and therefore anything is everything to us. In other words, we see only our own needs and desires that have to be fulfilled and gratified no matter how, but without seeing those in others.

You are a frog in a well, if you have the major human flaw—the “inflated” ego-self, which is focusing too much on “anything is everything” related to an individual’s ego-self.

Remember, we are all created to be in this world for only one purpose: to be our true self. Conventional wisdom often tells us to find our role model, pursue our life goals based on that role model. Subconsciously, we may all begin to dream that we are that role model or someone else that we are not, instead of being who we are supposed to be. That is how we may all have created an ego for ourselves; worse, we may even believe that we have to somehow gratify our ego-self in order to feel happy and contented.

The truth of the matter is that we all have an ego, and that is why we all, without any exception, have experienced unhappiness to a certain extent at some points in our lives. Unfortunately, the human ego is also the underlying cause or the main source of all human miseries and sufferings. That is to say, the human ego is the human flaw responsible for most of the problems and troubles that we are all facing in our lives.  

The reality is that we cannot get rid of our ego because it is our uniquely individual identity. Having said that, we can still somehow diminish its size, or at least not letting it get out of control and dominate us eventually. Remember, the size of your ego is directly proportionate to the degree of distortion of your thinking mind, creating the so-called “realities” in your mind, which often are biased and untrue.

Your ego is your perceived identity, which is neither a social security number nor just a face. Your identity is your inner self or your self-worth as a person that you perceive. Many people even strive to build their identities by manipulating acceptance and attention from others. Sadly, that usually does not work: your true identify should be based on how you perceive yourself, rather than on how you perceive what others may think of you. That is to say, your true identity should not be built upon your own inflated ego.

The bottom line: like a frog in a well, with only limited and imperfect vision and perception of the sky above, you may then unconsciously distort your thinking mind with your inflated ego.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau