PERSONALITY & YOU
EGO FEARS
"Ego Fears" are not truly part of the personality- but are defenses against natural elements of life.
They are often developed in adolescence through early adulthood, to protect you from experiences such as:
FEARS REVOLVING AROUND SELF-ESTEEM & EXPOSURE
Self-Deprecation develops to defend against any feelings of Inadequacy or Not Being Enough by saying you must Expose More- ranging from -Self-Abasement to -Humility
Arrogance develops to defend against any feelings of Vulnerability or Being Too Much by saying you must Expose Less- ranging from -Vanity to -Pride
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FEARS REVOLVING AROUND DESERVING WORTH/VALUE
Self-Destruction develops to defend against any expressions of Abundance/Having Too Much by saying you're Worth Less than that- ranging from -Suicide to -Sacrifice
Greed develops to defend against any expressions of Scarcity/Not Having Enough by saying you're Worth More than that- ranging from -Voracity to -Appetite
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FEARS REVOLVING AROUND CONTROL ISSUES
Martyrdom develops to defend against the sense that you're Losing Control over your Space/Body/Others- ranging from -Victimization to -Selflessness
Impatience develops to defend against the sense that you're Losing Control over Time and its Effects- ranging from -Intolerance to -Audacity
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FEAR REVOLVING AROUND EVOLUTION
Stubbornness develops to defend against any Changing/any Changes where you must face The Unknown- ranging from -Obstinacy to -Determination
SLIDING
To move out of one's defense, each Ego Fear can use its Self-Deprecation/Arrogance, Self-Destruction/Greed or Martyrdom/Impatience partner trait- or use Stubbornness for a dose of neutrality and assimilation. This is called "sliding".
Stubbornness, being neutral, can slide to any of these 6 Fears to move out of its fear.
IS FEAR NATURAL?
Inadequacy, Vulnerability, Abundance, Scarcity, Space, Time and Change are all natural experiences in life- but developing these ego fears means you start to DEFEND against these very natural experiences.
Fear is natural, informative & helpful when you're actually Threatened, Surprised or Angry.
But an Ego Fear develops when your defenses become a "warning system" that constantly goes off & leaves you always fearful, reactionary and struggling.
Note that Ego Fears are not fixed, they are Habits- so we can access, experience and ignite each Defense, but we will have our preferences.
Also note that neither polarity is "Positive" and this is because Ego Fears are inherently Negative and Divisive.
The former terms like "Self-Abasement" are more negative because they divide and defend you from parts of yourself- breaking you apart. While the latter terms like "Humility" mend internal divisions/resistances, but still defend you from the world- setting you against anything beyond you.
Ego Fears can show up in 3 WAYS:
PRIVATE- As a personal struggle always existing within yourself.
PROVOKED- As others provoking you into the fear, or you provoking them into it.
PROJECTED- As a fight against or fear of others who exemplify/represent the defense.
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These will of course mix, but no matter the way, the Ego Fear you developed is still your own.
Ego Fears will develop to protect you in 3 PRIMARY CONTEXTS:
The fear chosen to protect your GOAL initiates when your Goal falls into its -Pole, thus this fear arises to defend you from/when feeling ineffective and failing aspirations in the world.
The fear chosen to protect your MODE initiates when your Mode falls into its -Pole, thus this fear arises to defend in moments of more one-on-one closeness & keeps you from feeling intimate with others.
The fear chosen to protect your BODY initiates when you feel a drop in your health, or a threat to your safety and physical well-being.
It is a visceral, tangible reaction to life experiences that is "in your skin." This then affects your centering, body image, how healthily you feel+move and brings a rise in shame.
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Beyond these, there are 4 SUBTLER CONTEXTS we defend ourselves from:
We each settle on a fear that defends us from the PAST and how we experience our Memories. We each settle on a fear that defends us from the FUTURE and how we use our Imagination. We each settle on a fear that defends us from the PRESENT and our ability to be Conscious- in the moment.
And we each settle on a CORE FEAR that grows as we gather experiences from establishing and potentially freeing all of our other fears. It could be said to be the part of us that says "Even if I move past this and heal, I will still be/have/do/know *negative keyword*..."
This defends us from experiencing HEALING & WHOLENESS; affecting our evolution through our Passages & Awareness, and creating our greatest obstacle to SELF-LOVE.
HOW TO HEAL DEFENSES
It is your ATTITUDE that can dismantle any fear.
This is because the -Pole of your Attitude is what will defend, justify, entrench and excuse your fears. So by returning to the +Pole of your own Attitude, you can adapt your perceptions or adopt new ones to calm your reactions & defenses.
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Each Ego Fear will have 7 Angles described for Allowing & Healing that defense, which you may use and implement with the support of your Attitude.
This Healing can come through Digging Under your fear and really fleshing out its causes+triggers- Rising Above your fear so that it informs but doesn't control you- and Going Through your fear by allowing it to be processed and coming out on the other end with great power and strength.
7 STAGES OF FREEING FEAR
There are also 7 Stages involved in Establishing & Freeing us from our Defenses. We can be at different Stages with different Ego Fears- it all depends on how conscious we are of them. The more we work on resolving one fear though, the more all of our other defenses reduce too.
REACTIONARY: We discover that a certain reaction alleviates the pain or fear of an experience.
JUSTIFICATION: We subconsciously program this associated reaction into our neural pathways. "If this happens, then I must do, think, feel that."
FORTIFICATION: We're totally submerged into our Ego Fear as the sole protector from what we fear; entirely unaware that we automatically and unquestionably defend ourselves.
INTERVENTION: Anomalies in our defense pop up. We realize our Reaction, Justification and Fortification either did not work, caused more trouble than they were worth, or we were interrupted in the process by a realization, friend, loved one etc. We begin to question our defenses and wake up.
REDIRECTION: We choose to actively alter our reactions and justifications, and break down our fortifications- healing ourselves.
COMPREHENSION: We realize fear was never the enemy, but only the messenger; that we have always had the power to choose how to act, react or not; and that what we fear is not the same thing as what is happening, what has happened or what will happen.
LIBERATION or FREEDOM: "Liberation" is any instance where we have a good day and experience a break from the threat that prompts us to react, justify and fortify. We are liberated from the chains but not free from them all together. This can happen between any of the stages.
"Freedom" is when we completely release from the necessity to protect ourselves. We pay attention to the truth of the situation, the heart of the matter & the bigger picture. This is the last stage after we've processed all the others; we might still have a reaction now, but it is no longer a conclusion.