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Eradicating Unease Ain’t Easy
Even in a healthy state, the ego’s baseline is identity; typically an identity attached to a role, title, system or group (or all four). When identity is unattached from, the ego shifts into its intended role and more natural state — protection. This produces a varying but chronic sense of unease. The ego seeks to keep us in a state of unease to encourage us to attach to a new identity or re-attach to an old identity. Unconscious religious practices, busy-ness, obsessions are often adhered to in order to alleviate this unease. For starker cases, addiction, violence and nihilism will be turned to. That’s how powerful this unease is at driving behavior.
But it’s not real. It is a product of the mind. In Jesus’ parables, this is the building on the sand, the building of bigger barns, the seeking of higher seats. In Buddha’s teachings, it is simply called attachment.
So what is real? How do you take ownership over this feeling of unease? How do I find peace?
Discipline.
Former Navy SEAL, podcaster, author Jocko Willink says it well: “discipline equals freedom.”
I know I need Systems of Discipline (what I call SoDs). But they need to be of my choosing and execution. I can’t truly find peace by following someone else’s system. Learn, absolutely. Adhere to, no. Further, I need to keep an eye on not…
