Your ego is not your friend.

Your drive to succeed, to “make your mark” serves only a limited function in this world.

And most of the voices around you will tell you the opposite. They will declare that life is about achievement, about getting the acclaim/recognition/money/power that you deserve.

All of this is a lie; in your quieter moments you can remember this truth, but the voices around and inside you quickly swallow up the silent message and return you to the frenetic scrambling of being the king of your mountain.

But your life is not about you.

As the “Big Book” of Alcoholics Anonymous puts it, life is REALLY about what you can “pack into the stream of life.” That sounds like an excuse to let your ego run wild, but it’s really not. It’s really meant to be an invitation to SERVE other people.

As Shakespeare put it, you really are a player in a play. You didn’t write the play, but you DO have a part to play.

The error happens when you begin (as you often do) to think and ACT as if the play is all about YOUR PART, rather than the other way around.

You are here to serve the STORY, AND ALSO the other actors and actresses.

To do anything else is to invite ego and self-centeredness to run rampant in your life, and you KNOW how that will end up?

So take a breath: it’s not about you. Seek to serve; ask how can yourself how you can help in WHATEVER SITUATION COMES YOUR WAY.

And know that the author of the play—God, the Mystery—is never far from you, regardless of the situation.