Download
in PDF format

Article by Ralph Miller

When we experience a big loss of control it makes us feel insecure and vulnerable. There is a letdown and perhaps we experience ourselves as being a little more genuinely human. Our collective ideas about ourselves form an assembly of self-importance or ego. This letdown is the collapse of those ideas. We are humbled. We become willing to learn in another way. We notice others who are also open and vulnerable, and we feel a camaraderie or empathy.

Very traumatic experiences for individuals such as accidents or illnesses can deeply affect those lucky enough to survive. When we experience a trauma, we experience loss of control and our illusion of self importance falls. This collapse of ego becomes a gift that can wake us up. It can propel us from a continuum of ego delusion to profound new meaning in our life.