Every now and then you're reminded of lessons that you have already learned. More often than not these are unpleasant realities, nevertheless you need to remember how to deal with these situations. In my experience, one characteristic is usually the culprit of these life lessons learned and so forgotten. Ego, no it's not a frozen waffle, dictionary.com defines it as "self-esteem or self-image, feeling, i.e. your ego grows unbearable each day. This is tricky because on one hand of course you need to have some ego, a healthy self-esteem is necessary in life for success. On the other hand, having too much ego or thinking too highly of oneself is not only delusional but is often the cause of conflict between people. As a matter of fact can you think of any conflict that at its core is not related to ego? When a life lesson is learned subconsciously its filed away in our being as not to be repeated. However, it seems, where ego is concerned we are all a bit insane; meaning that we all seem to repeat this lesson time and time again. The funny thing about ego is that even when you think you are being selfless you're usually not. When you recognize this or someone points this out to you it can be a bit of a reality check. So I guess the key here is to at least be aware of your ego because can you ever really be free of it?-Mike Straus