More tolerant than a tree
“One should be more tolerant than a tree and more humble than the grass”. A tree tolerates heath, cold and everything we do to it. The grass is always as low as our feet and needs to accept that everyone walks on it. Pride and a big ego are the opposite of being tolerant and humble as the tree and the grass.
The above quote is one of the things that I think of the most when I feel my ego is acting up. We all get through a lot and for sure not everyone will treat us right (or maybe they treat us as they should, because they give us a chance to learn and grow?). At those moments we feel it as if they are crossing a line. The more we are aware, the more we can feel when restlessness is building inside of us which can lead to anger very easily. In this sense it is the same as with thoughts we have that are not positive for us in any way. Those thoughts we can also be aware of. The more we are aware, the more we can keep control of the situation.
Real anger normally is when we lose control, and doesn’t need to happen when we are aware of it and thus can keep our control. Awareness gives us the possibility to let go of thoughts or in this case to not get angry. Just by thinking of being more tolerant than a tree and more humble than the grass, we can calm ourselves before we act. Of course it doesn’t mean we need to accept everything, but acting from anger will never help anyone. It is better to act when we are calm so that we can make the right decisions. If our ego get’s the better of us than thinking about the tree and grass might help us to at least keep control and act accordingly.