I am on to chapter 2 of Ekhart Tolle’s book.  It discusses the ego, which in my words is a discussion about what me …. I….. myself…. are about.  It gives these concepts limits and within showing how those identities are limiting you then begin to see beyond those limits.  Everything beyond what you call Me, Myself or I.  For example, a child with a toy and when you take the toy away there is distress for the toy has formed part of the childs identity.  The identity is it the toy or more than the toy?

So … this metaphor gives a connection to how we hold on to things with thought and THINK that they form an important part of who we are.  If you look at how you think about your home that you bought, your photographs, your car.  How does that fall within your identity? with who YOU are?

Ekhart says, are we not more?  and of course, we are.  So much more.  I am having a blast reading this book.

Relating this to my Coaching practice and my business ethics then, I see that happiness and by happiness I mean a sustaining continual peaceful happiness, is what I would like to see more people experience and getting more of this happiness is interdependant with the process of letting go of things that we think form our identity, like houses, material things and letting go of thoughts that came from conditioning not from within ourselves. 

If we move closer to this depth then that will not only sustain us through life, but give us the power to enhance and connect beyond the me, myself and I concepts and that opens up so many dimensions that are limitless and formless so a curiosity and with curiosity an enjoyment.  Who wouldn’t want more of that?

 Achieving business, money, property will be looked at differently in terms of not being needy or desperate for it, but as something that is within our grasp at whatever time we deem appropriate. 

And rather than the process currently being based on limitations that many of us place on ourselves, like past experiences, future anxiety and so on.

The process would be something of a magic ride. 

I am only new to this process … say about 6 years.  But, when I was in my early 20’s my parents didn’t want to come to my graduation.  They said it was all just a show, it wasn’t what was achieved.  I didn’t go and didn’t think much of it until others were confused about why I didn’t.  This taught me a valuable lesson that it was just about recognition, about identity.  It had nothing about what it truly meant, that is the work that I had to achieve that, the work that I would do in the future because of that.  I was holding onto ‘ego’, but recognised it as ‘ego’ and then let go of other such celebrations, thinking that they had no meaning.  It allowed me not to get caught up in going to celebrations for image sake.  I also don’t hold celebrations and don’t like to because I see it as unnecessary.

I see now that there are different levels of letting go of the ego. The more I seek the more I feel like I am letting go of ‘identity’ or ‘ego’ and the more I release material things like alcohol, sex, keeping busy for the sake of being busy and things of image.

With the release of such things, comes an increase in time, in energy, in thought.  I am more peaceful at rest, I have more energy with which I invest towards getting me more energy … that could be meditation, excercise, writing, reading, cleaning, relationships with loved ones.

When I have more time for these things and more energy, the path is now chosen based on a deep decision chosen from what I call my ‘core’.  As I choose and respond more from my core, I reach destinations of my choice in the fashion that I always wished I would. 

This produces happiness throughout the process, a happiness with the ending, an curiosity in its continuation.  But … there is more because I have seen that when I choose to be happy, I also give permission for others to choose their happiness and with that the ability to recognise those first initial stages.

So my understanding of letting go of identity, the stages of that, the feeling of process with integrity and the achieving what you have always promised yourself.

This is a core to any undertaking in ones life and this is where my Coaching practice will have its foundations.

All this highlights what identity could be and why it may be good to let go, but the next question becomes how? Keep an eye open on this space and I’ll discuss further later.

peace and blessings