The Mind and it’s Incessant Need to “Become” Something

“As long as ego runs your life there are two ways of being unhappy, not getting what you want and getting what you want.” -Eckhart Tolle

How much time do we spend trying or wishing to be something that we are not? Probably a lot more than you realize. In fact, without this belief that there is a goal to be achieved, a state of being that is better than the one we are in now, or an alleged time or place that will bring us more happiness than the present moment will, our ego-mind barely has a leg to stand on. The incessant need to “become” something keeps our ego valid.

Think about it. You wake up in the morning, your mind is telling you are still tired, it wants to become the person who is still laying in bed. You’re taking a shower, you get hungry, it wants to become the person who is eating something. You’re at work, all you want to do is get off, you are preoccupied with becoming the person who is done with work for the day. You are irritated by a co-worker, you don’t like having such judgmental thoughts so you try to become the person who is not angry. You get the point.