I've been reading an interesting article comparing the ideas of ego and calling. Here's some thoughts from it on ego:
The lifeblood of the ego is fear. Its primary function is to preserve your identity, but it fears your unworthiness. As a result, ego pushes you harder in order to achieve more. Ego communicates to you through “oughts,” “musts,” and “shoulds,” persuading you to believe that by achieving more and more, you must be worthy, right?
Ego needs anxiety to survive.
Wherever you feel the most insecurity is where your ego will work overtime to ‘fix.’ The ego needs anxiety to pinpoint the problem, then course corrects by disavowing this pesky aspect of your personality.
Ego is concerned with the self and preserving what it wants. The ego may be interested in helping others. But it isn’t inherently motivated by serving others. It is motivated by maintaining and managing your identity.
-- Shelley Provost
...more to follow on distinctions between 'ego' and 'calling'.
