The mark of true maturity arrives, for men especially, when we no longer live from our wounded places. It takes years to acknowledge that we are even wounded. But once we do, a whole new set of options arises in our lives.
The core wound is the gift from the Soul, Rumi tells us, as it shapes our character and gives us an early orientation to who we might become. But it is neither to be worshipped nor ignored. The former hurts oneself, the latter hurts others. And of course, both hurt both.
‘A bad day for the ego is a good day for the soul’. So whenever the ego is fucking with us or others, whenever we are feeling that twitch of defensiveness or fear, whenever we are in reaction to anything, you can bet that the ego is in charge. Only when we recognize that the ego defends to protect the wound, can we transformationally shift from living ‘from’ the ego, to living ‘with’ the ego. This is a quantum leap in personal consciousness.