There is a thin line between ego and self-respect, and we often misunderstand these two while dealing with any situation. We often think of ego as self-respect, feel bad if said something, react strongly to something that is said casually or for fun and that badly affects our relationships with others. It happens with almost everyone except some as it’s not easy to differentiate quickly; takes time to understand so we are bound to make mistakes in such cases.
We need to be well aware of what is ego, what is self-respect, and the difference between these two. Only knowledge & constant practice can help to master this.
The ego is a feeling of self-worth, not a bad thing, but when it’s too much, it takes the form of arrogance & a feeling of superiority over others. You may have noticed some people don’t accept their mistakes, are reluctant to take other opinions, hard to make them understand, hard to persuade them, feeling bad if something is said to them casually or for fun. They are self-centered and have so much self-importance that they don’t even care about others.
Self-respect is valuing oneself and respecting others, it is a positive quality that exudes confidence in oneself & shows self-importance. The person with self-respect takes things positively, is happy with how he/she is, accepts both good & bad things happening to him/her, and learns from them.
Let’s understand this with an example, if you always get hurt & feel bad about something said to you normally, you may have an ego problem. But, when bad things are said to you, you are being insulted or people around you looking down on you then you need to speak up and react strongly.
