OMG, what I’ve learned about ego and control could fill a book. A friend once told me that ego is what separates us from oneness with God. What she meant, I think, was that our ego run amok might separate us from a lot of things here on earth.
It separates us from others when “we have to be right.” It separates us from a lot of people when we feel we know what’s best for them and try to impose our will on him or her. When it’s a loved one who is self-destructing, we feel and ARE utterly justified in our well-intentioned attempts to influence him or her. And we can be right until the cows come home, but others will follow their own will (especially if the physiological need for drugs is present). We can hope and pray, but in the end we must accept our powerlessness over another adult’s illness—and let go.
Just—let—go…boy, is that hard!