Sparkle Revolution Newsletter

Here’s a recent conversation between me and my husband, Ron (co-founder of Sparkle Revolution):
(As we’re watching the cows in the field across from our house)

Me: I wonder if the cows have a place to go inside at night?
Ron: I don’t think so
Me: But what about in the winter?
Ron: I think they just stay in the field
Me: In Michigan [where I’m from] I’m sure they don’t just stay in the field! They have barns and shelter.
Ron: I think it’s different if it’s beef cattle vs. dairy cows.

And the conversation continued from there… Would it surprise you to hear that neither Ron nor I has any background or expertise or clue about raising cattle? I share this one example because we find ourselves having conversations like this ALL the time! As humans, our egos love to make things up in situations where we really have no idea.

Gina Lake, who channels modern day wisdom from Jesus, says “Not knowing is scary to the ego, and it doesn’t like being scared, so its solution is to make something up.” If you pay attention, you’ll find that you are probably doing this in big and small ways that you don’t even notice. Examples: you see construction happening and you start to speculate what they are doing, why they are doing it, why are they doing it now, why did they stop? Or maybe you hear that someone is unexpectedly absent from work and you immediately start to make things up. Maybe they’re sick? Are they traveling? Did something happen? Notice how our brains are uncomfortable with not knowing, so when there is a situation we don’t understand, it’s a very common tendency to just start making things up.

As I’ve become aware of this tendency and observe it in my own life, I sometimes find the situations fairly innocuous and even laughable. Ron and I pretending we are experts on cows doesn’t really hurt anything or bring up negative emotions. But recognizing this tendency can help us be aware and better understand the instances when it could cause angst and other negative emotions. For example, suppose Ron and I both “know” the right way to raise children, but our ideas are not the same. You can see where this could quickly lead to frustration and even anger if both of our egos are convinced they are right in that situation.

See if you can become more aware of when your ego is supplying you with an answer to something it doesn’t really know. Awareness is power, and it can save you heartache to learn to be able to let go of “being right.”