The thin line of difference

Self-esteem: confidence in one's own worth or abilities; self-respect.

Ego: a person's sense of self-esteem or self-importance.

These are the definitions taken from Google of these two concepts. I have always found this an intriguing topic: How does one know the difference between these two?

I mean, look at these definitions itself. You will realize that they are closely related to each other. Often, we hear people quoting and describing that ego is bad for oneself and how everyone should have self-esteem. I think we all should have a balance of both.

This year’s Best Picture winners at the Academy and Filmfare awards were Birdman and Queen. Both films are fantastic and moving pieces of entertainment. Retrospectively, they both deal on these two subjects.

While Queen shows how important it is to have self-esteem, Birdman was the perfect opposite to it. It showed how dangerous ego can be.

  

Let us understand these concepts better.

Self-esteem drives a person to reach the pinnacle of their talents. Their confidence is at their zenith. There is nothing that they can’t do. Their perception changes and there is no stopping them. One can attain anything. Self-esteem fills a person with a great sense of positivity and they become walking sources of encouragements for others. They are contented with their beliefs and have a great attitude for everything.

And that’s exactly where ego kicks in..

Ego is nothing but the same attitude changing to arrogance. And how does that happen? When we become too over-confident, that we think we are the only perfect ones, we fall victim to our own selves. Overconfidence leads to Ego. Not necessarily, but it may be the reason for it.

I sometimes wonder: what kind of thinking goes on in a person’s head that leads them to become egoistic?

Perhaps, the person gets caught up in the glory of their past achievements that they tend to forget and appreciate the imperfections in others. We forget our humble origins, when we are at the peak of our abilities. This was aptly demonstrated in the Rajesh Khanna movie ‘Avatar’.

The birth of Ego is the death of humility.

So, how do we walk this thin line of difference between these two?

We must stay humble. Humility is the key. If one learns this great lesson in life, one can stay a mile away from arrogance and ego. One must embrace the imperfections and abstract and try to contribute in the best interest of others. Only if we humans inculcate this in our lives, every one of us can be a Sachin Tendulkar or a Mark Zuckerberg.

And if you truly want a role model for humility, then look at Rajnikant.