Light for the Week of January 4, 2010
Thanks for adding your light!
In the last month, I’ve come across two kindred spirits who are doing similar work and want to share them with you. Sandy Gluckman works with individuals and corporations to manage ego and create lighter environments. Learn more about her at www.sandygluckman.com
Carolyn Herfurth has a great new web site called TruthU – www.truthu.com – where she openly discusses her encounters with her ego. She has inspired me to keep my commitment to doing video stories of my own experiences and provides a great reminder that no one has the answer to your questions but YOU!
We’ll be doing the first flash chat in the next couple of weeks. To get all the info, you need to be a member of the TLOL group on Facebook. Why not take a second and join now?
A mere four weeks til the “official” book launch for ego: A Primer, but you can get your advanced copy here.
Stay connected by subscribing to the monthly newsletter or the Daily Haiku by entering your e-mail address in the box below. And finally, an opportunity to change your perception about “disadvantaged” people in the blog below – just scroll down.
Be light!
staci
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The Disadvantage of Using the Word Disadvantaged
On a recent episode of Celebrity Jeopardy, Alex Trebek and Christopher Meloni chatted about Smile Train, an organization that provides low-cost surgery to repair cleft paletes. During the conversation, Trebek made a remark about the importance of taking care of “the disadvantaged people.”
To most, this may sound kind, compassionate, and even generous. To me, it was merely ego disguising itself as benevolence.
When we label someone “disadvantaged,” it automatically puts us one step above. It allows us to feel good about “helping” because “they” “need” “help.” And ego falls on the floor, laughing its ass off that it’s driven us to do “good” instead of seeing the truth.
The truth is a child with a cleft palate isn’t “disadvantaged” – she is merely having a different experience than I am. Only I have the power to judge, or not judge, what that means to me.
Putting a label like disadvantaged on someone only serves to make them less than. Then, by default, I must be “more than.” The only thing that makes ego happier than to believe it’s “less” than someone is believing it’s “better.”
It’s not ever content with the concept of oneness and it will do whatever it can to make you forget the truth and anchor you in the illusion that you’re either better or worse off than whoever you’re judging.
The next time you’re thinking about “helping the disadvantaged,” why not say something like: Let me be kind and compassionate. Period.