Ego and its Impact on Success
Ego is a person's elevated sense of self-worth and self-esteem. A person's sense of self-worth is referred to as having self-esteem. Ego is a state of mind in which a person believes that they are entirely right and perfect at all times. There has never been a man who achieved success in life using his ego; egotistical heights can bring a person to self-destruction. Numerous instances in history show how individuals who had the potential to be great were destroyed and devastated by their egos. Gilgamesh, who killed himself with his hands, is one such case. Gilgamesh is the central character of the first great work of literature, the poem of ‘Akkadian.' Gilgamesh was an extremely egoistic and selfish ruler who cared about no one but himself and his pride. The fact that is must remember is that ultimate success in life is only achieved by those who steps on their ego. On the contrary, those who wear their ego as a crown become buried in the ground due to the heaviness of their head of ego. Gilgamesh, as a real egoistic person, loved himself and did whatever pleases him. He never considered the difference between right and wrong but only followed what his ego told him. On multiple points in his life, he sacrificed the lives of even those who were close to him to save his life. Gilgamesh was tremendously strong and powerful but was not immortal. He was only 2/3 of God, but he considered himself immortal like God.
The Consequences of Ego: Gilgamesh and Enkidu
With the passage of time, Gilgamesh and Enkidu (his friend) decided to slaughter ‘Humbaba' (one of the guardians of the earth). Gilgamesh decided to defy the Gods out in the open to show off his power and greatness. He decided to go to the secret forest of cedar with Enkidu and slaughter Humbaba in that forest. It can be observed with the course of the story that how an increase in ego can make a person feel overwhelmed with power and self-importance. Another point that must be remembered is that ‘every action has a reaction.' Because of the cruel, brutal, inhuman and unwise acts of Gilgamesh, Gods punished Enkidu and sentenced him to death (Hopkins, Ryan).
Shattered Ego and Self-Awareness: Gilgamesh's Transformation
Enkidu died because of Gilgamesh, but still, it did not have any effect on Gilgamesh. Moving on, Gilgamesh' unwise acts lead to the attack of ‘Taurus the bull' on the city of Uruk (Gilgamesh's city). A significant number of people got injured and murdered by the beast, but Gilgamesh only cared for the fact that he ultimately killed the bull. Everything that goes up has to come down because nothing can stay in the air forever. Gilgamesh finally realized his immortality, and the moment he realized his temporary reality, his ego had a major hit. The man, whose ego was his biggest concern, fought with and defeated his ego by himself.
Another Example: Rosaura from "Life is a Dream"
The second significant example of such egoistic character in history is of "Rosaura" from the story of "Life is a Dream." The title of the story itself depicts and represents the temporary nature of life and the ways life goes just like a dream. In this story, the character of Rosaura who is originally a royal family person appears in a story disguised as a man to conceal her identity and save her from danger. Rosaura's character seems egoistic as she continues to claim that whatever she says or do is right and appropriate. Adding more honors to her identity, Rosaura is engaged to the King's nephew, Astolfo. But the immediate decline to the egoistic nature of Rosaura occurs when she is not only raped by Astolfo but Astolfo breaks the engagement after that as well just for the purpose of getting the crown. At this point, the egoistic side of Rosaura's personality gets completely shattered into little pieces. Through which she later finds success as Astolfo is made to marry her by the new King.
The Story of Karna: Triumph over Trials and Ego
Continuing the process of how ego can prohibit a person from success in life, let us exemplify the character of ‘Karna' in the vast story of ‘Mahabharta.' Karna is considered as one of most vital and significant aspects of the story throughout. Karna is also considered as one of those characters which are extremely trialed and challenged by their fate throughout their lives. Karna, throughout his character, has faced multiple mild to severe trials and complications. There was no such egoistic problem with the character of Karna. But Karna's character experiences great pain and sufferings.
Karna is believed to have strong believed and faith in the power of Karma. Despite multiple trials and sufferings, he never failed to lose faith and courage in himself and life. Regardless of continuous complication along his way throughout life, Karna proved that he was the real man. The character of Karna is regarded as the most experienced and unlucky character of the epic story of Mahabharata. The lesson to be learned in the case of Karna is that, though he did not achieve evident success because of his unlucky pattern of life experiences, because of his positive attitude, good character, and standout courage, he ultimately achieved significant levels of success.
The Power of Positive Attributes: Karna's Success
Karna was one of the most powerful and influential men during his time; he was almost impossible for everyone to take down by one central power. Despite his ultimate and tremendous power, Karna was generous, kind, charitable, and empathetic, talented as an excellent archer, possessed a great respect for the opposite gender (females), and was a man of principles and morals. This makes evident the fact that no matter how many difficulties the character of Karna faced during his life, he ultimately achieved success because he remained impartial and un-egoistic. He did not get driven by his limitless power and energy, continued to take the high road and overcame the negative power of his ego.
Real-Life Examples: The Impact of Ego
After considering high and influential examples from history, as we focus on real-life examples around us, we also get plenty of examples around us as well. There are scores of famous and known people around us who have either written history by defeating their ego and extreme sensation of self-love or got lost in the wind just because of following their path of self-appreciation. The critical difference between positive self-love and self-appreciation and the highest or harmful levels of ego must be understood. The former can make a person feel good and positive and can help him/her stay calm during the tough conditions in life, while the latter makes a person see him/herself as an embodiment of perfection and precision, who can do nothing wrong and is always right and logical.
Kanye West: Triumph over Ego
Kanye Omari West is a famous American songwriter, rapper, fashion designer, and producer as well. He was not that famous in the starting of his career during his first or second release of albums. The very first exponentially hit song of Kanye West is regarded to be ‘Through the Wire.' Back in time, in 2002, when Kanye had a severe accident on October 23, he did not have the huge fan base who would take up the internet after his severe accident. He was rehearsing for his song, and he left the studio almost at 3 A.M in the morning. At his way back, he got serious face and jaw injuries as a result of a serious car accident. Those injuries made him stay in the hospital for multiple days, and because of the absence of any health insurance, he had to pay extra cash for his medications and treatments. Through this real painful and excruciating period of his life, Kanye West stepped his ultimate will up and despite multiple stitches in his jaw, recorded his rap song ‘Through the wire' on the pre-decided schedule.
It is no surprise that this went viral and only after a few years, the world knows who Kanye West is. The whole point of describing his willpower and encouragement is that despite having the option of rest and quitting, Kanye came out of the comfort zone of his ego. He experienced the great amount of pain to destruct his ego, and in front of shattered pieces of his ego, he found ultimate success.
Downfall due to Ego: Jean-Claude Van Damme
There are multiple ego stories that brought the shining stars of Hollywood down and made them look invisible as if they never existed. Jean-Claude Van Damme has been a well-known martial artist, actor, and film producer of Belgian origin. It is critical for a celebrity, during their success years, to select their choices which decide their future. One wrong, egoistic, and arrogant decision can drag a person from the highest chair of fame and success to deep down in the real dark world.
During his ultimate years of success, Jean-Claude Van Damme was offered multiple influential and huge roles, but being over-confident in his right time and abilities, he rejected a couple of great offers just because of the slight difference in pay. He rejected some roles, including the primary role in a studio deal. After the passage of time, though he is still successful, he has reportedly claimed his mistakes of being so superficial and unwise on the heels of his success period. He became unable to pierce the thick cloak of his ego and that is why failed to meet and continue the ultimate period of success.
Works Cited
"John D. Rockefeller". Biography.Com, 2017, http://www.biography.com/people/john-d-rockefeller-20710159.
"11 Years Ago Today". Global Grind, 2017, https://globalgrind.cassiuslife.com/3880177/kanye-west-car-accident-11-years-ago-full-story-photos/.
"Karna – Hero Or Villain?". The Isha Blog, 2014, http://isha.sadhguru.org/blog/yoga-meditation/history-of-yoga/karna/.
