There is much teaching these days about the “Ego”, a part of each of us that often can get in the way of our personal growth. One of the best books I have read to distinguish between the unhealthy aspects of the Ego and the empowering thoughts of the Spirit is Sonia Choquette’s “The Power of Your Spirit – A Guide to Joyful Living”.
“To quit the ego game of power, struggle, duality, ‘me against you’, or whatever you want to call it … that is the most crucial decision you can make,” Choquette writes. “It can only come about if you do something profoundly different in your life, starting today, and continuing every day until it becomes the only way you want to live.” [1. The Power of Your Spirit page 16]
Choquette gives plenty of tips in the book for doing something “profoundly different” to quiet the ego. I was encouraged to continue my daily meditation practice, for example, from these words, “Connecting with your Spirit through breath work and meditation is absolutely critical to empowering yourself. You cannot get around this truth; until you invest in your Spirit, it cannot invest in you.” [2. Power of Your Spirit, page 58]
With all this talk about the Ego and its disruptive way of running my life, I sometimes throw up my hands and think “why did God give me an Ego, anyway?! It sure causes me lots of problems!!” While the Power of the Spirit discusses the unhealthy patterns of the Ego, one feature I liked is that the book stops short of calling the Ego “bad”. In fact the Ego, as an integral part of one’s personality, can be a powerful ally. “To embrace the power of your Spirit, it’s up to you to contain, restrain, and then train your intellectual self to support rather than attack your Spirit,” Choquette says. “To humble yourself to Spirit is to humble your mind to its true master – your Divine nature. In doing so, both mind and Spirit enter into the sacred marriage of mind and heart, and profound personal peace begins.” [3. Power of Your Spirit, page 68]
Another feature of the book I liked was a series of probing journal exercises. I recently started keeping a daily journal, and “The Power of Your Spirit” gave me more questions to ponder in my daily writing. One section in particular was about Death. “How do you presently feel about death and dying? Do you ever think about it? Do you ignore it, fear it, or perhaps accept it?” this journal exercise asks. “If you knew you were dying, what would you do differently?” [4. Power of Your Spirit, page 150]
“I’d rather not think about that, thank you, next page!” was my initial reaction. Upon further reflection, though, I realized I am not fully comfortable with the thought of my own death, and it is an area I am working on. I found solace in these words from Choquette, “Accepting death is the ultimate surrender and the highest form of transformation to Spirit. We have no choice. But when we accept death to the best of our ability, we are given the most powerful gift of life – the freedom to fully live as our authentic selves.” [5. Power of Your Spirit, page 149. Another good book that helped me in dealing with death is “What Is Your Expiry Date” by Patrick Mathieu]
What I liked best is that The Power of Your Spirit gives many suggestions for actually deepening my experience of Spirit, and not just getting an intellectual understanding of it. The book is a valuable aid for anyone looking to start or enhance a daily spiritual practice.
You can get “The Power of Your Spirit” from these book sellers:
This is another book review in my partnership with Hay House. I was not financially compensated for this post. I received the book from Hay House for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.
