eeee-go already

Ego.

An ego is, arguably, a good thing to have, which I suppose is a bonus, because everyone has one, whether you wanted it or not. Your ego will boost you when you are in moments of competition. Your ego will press you to demand and pursue better things from yourself, your life and those around you. Your ego will pick you up in times of trouble, dust you off and kick you in the pants to get you going again. Your ego is your friend.

Your ego will make you look like an arrogant prick and alienate the people around you. Your ego will make your life considerably more difficult than it needs to be.

Ohhh, didn't see that one coming now, did you? The trouble with ego is that that little bastard doesn't seem to know when to stop. Ego thinks it (ego is not gender specific, so it retains the 'it' article) knows better than everyone else about everything. It thinks that nothing is more important or more deserving than itself.

It doesn't give a fuck if it's in your way and setting you up for what will later be some serious grief, sorrow or a nasty fight-hangover. Ego doesn't care because ego will go into hiding at that point and leave you to clean up the mess, most times wondering how it inserted itself so effectively into the mix and how it managed to fuck things up so badly in such a short period of time. Ego is as irresponsible as it is bold. Ego is also a lame excuse for bad behavior and defiant obstinance.

And that's just one ego. Imagine the exponential compounding of bullshit when not one, but two egos are in the mix. It's like having two T.O.'s playing for the same team. Like having two Trumps trying to run the same real estate empire. Like.....well, you get the point. When two egos are engaged, the actual people are not even present it seems, because the egos have taken over and are, at that point, running the show. When the two are going tete a tete, it's nothing more than a one-upping, destructo-derby, with each ego trying to see if it can come up with a better and more barb-covered line. It's a mess doomed to get messier before it gets better and in the end, the actual human beings in the situation are left with carnage and sometimes regret (not that ego would let them admit it) and they have to figure out how much to concede without pissing ego off and having it come out for another round of grenade launchings.

And around and around we go until everyone arrests that troublemaking fucker and puts it under wraps, where it can be dealt with and observed and not be out parading around and destroying things like the tasmanian devil. It has a place, that part in everyone's personality; it has a place and a function. But if you are finding yourself in conflict with regard to a "this-is-bullshit" or "I-don't-have-to-take-this-shit" situation, no matter what side you are on.....

Manage your fucking ego.