ego

There is this small part within every single one of us that craves to be fed..that yearns to be satisfied and ironically never is.
It makes me wonder how much is actually enough for the human ego to reach its 'satiety' point??
Its a simple logic----i feed your ego, you like me..i hurt it and you hate me like there is no tomorrow.
so where does the truth stand in all this pampering?
or does it really have a place at all?
I have ended up unknowingly experimenting along those lines and judged reactions..many a times, i have gone right ahead and blurted out the truth, just to see what really matters.
and as expected, have felt the vibes of hatred towards my frankness steaming in my direction?
'your makeup is too loud today' i once told my friend when she asked me how she looked..she gazed into the mirror and did what she thought was 'toning it down' and asked me if it was okay..to which i gave her an honest answer and told her it was still looking a little garish and that she should opt for milder shades.
Little did i know then, that i was hurting her ego.
It was only when she started dripping sarcasm for a good consecutive five days after the episode that i actually realised where it was coming from.

Today a friend asked me if he had done the right thing pertaining a particular situation regarding his ex..he said he wanted to know a girls perspective on it and that i should be honest.
When i obliged and told him what i really thought about it, he logged off saying that he wasn't in the mood to talk any further.

so u see how it goes, i agree with you, compliment you, support you irrespective of whether i think its right or wrong and you will like me..
If i am honest, i end up hurting your sentiments.
EGO i have realised, is one of the most dangerous of human emotions.
Its not that i haven't fallen prey to it myself, i have too.
It spares noone and ends up destroying the best of relationships.
Pride keeps interfering and keeps us away from confronting the issue and sorting out the problem.
we wait for the other to take a step forward which is what the other waits for too---end result, an issue which is never sorted, an intact ego and ironically, a relationship left in broken pieces, which are impossible to put together.
and then again, there is the convenience with which we label the demon as 'self respect' when it comes to our own self and 'super-ego' when it comes to others----mere self consolation which we hope will last us a lifetime, to save us the guilttrip.

but i ask, is it really worth it??

ego...the reason apologies are not given!
ego...the reason why the silence keeps growing!
ego...the reason the void continues to deepen!
ego...the reason we misunderstand without knowing!

ending here with a quote my school teacher had penned down in my autograph book, ages ago, an advice i still hold very dear----
"in life, don't be like the oak tree..it is tall & mighty but trees get uprooted during storms..instead, be like the blade of grass, bending yet never breaking"