fearing and wanting...

A Mind-Made "Me."

What will be left of all the fearing and wanting associated with your problematic life situation that every day takes up most of your attention? A dash -- one or two inches long, between the date of birth and date of death on your gravestone.

To the egoic self, this is a depressing thought. To you, it is liberating.

When each thought absorbs your attention completely, it means you identify with the voice in your head. Thought then becomes invested with a sense of self. This is the ego, a mind-made "me." That mentally constructed self feels incomplete and precarious.

That's why fearing and wanting are its predominant emotions and motivating forces.

~ From: Stillness Speaks, by Eckhart Tolle