Change feels like tossing a coin up in the air—you don't know which way it will land, good or bad for the ego? The ego is deeply concerned it will turn out badly. The ego considers the worst case scenarios and fears the worst. It attaches a story to what's going on: "My life is going downhill."

Some things matter too much to the ego, and this is a source of unhappiness, things like performing perfectly, looking a certain way, having certain things, and so on. The flip side of this is that many of the little things that actually turn out to matter, especially to true happiness, are overlooked and underrated by the ego. Most of the turning points in our life came about as a result of something that didn't seem to matter at the time: a phone call from a friend who happened to tell us about a spiritual teacher coming to town; an invitation to a party,

Seeking the extraordinary, it is easy to overlook the simple and obvious truth. You are here. You know it beyond any doubt. You don't need a mirror or an outside authority to tell you. It is undeniable.

Anyone who has spent much time reading about Zen has encountered the term "Self" many times over. Some may even conclude that Zen is all about Self. They would not be wrong. While some people think that Zen is about sitting in lotus position, contemplating the space between the end of a sentence and the period that follows,

Notice how your thoughts are mostly about you. In an attempt to perpetuate this you and inflate or deflate it, the egoic mind is forever comparing this you to others, checking to see how it measures up. Many of our thoughts are evaluative and judgmental because that’s how the self-image is maintained. The ego’s job is to maintain the sense that we exist as a separate entity, and most thoughts serve that end, hence, all the thoughts about I. The mental world is a world of me, me, me. You’ve undoubtedly noticed.

Nearly everyone is in the grip of at least one desire, sometimes many. Desire is a natural part of the human condition. It comes from a sense of lack that is created by the ego, the false self. It comes from the belief that we need something outside of ourselves to be happy, which is the lie that makes the world go round. What would we do and what would our lives look like if we didn't believe we needed something else to make us happy or fulfill us?