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mts

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Maybe. We have limits.

But also, we can grow, and expand those limits.

And the word "control" is a two-edged (at least) sword, because what we may really need is balance. Balance is the result of forces that aren't under direct ego control, which of course scares the ego. But an ego left alone to run things tends to go off the deep end, either towards grandiosity and perfectionism, or towards giving up and hopeless self-abasement.

So, back to your question: maybe our uncontrolled reactions aren't as bad as we (some part of us) thinks they are?

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Maybe. We have limits.

But also, we can grow, and expand those limits.

And the word "control" is a two-edged (at least) sword, because what we may really need is balance. Balance is the result of forces that aren't under direct ego control, which of course scares the ego. But an ego left alone to run things tends to go off the deep end, either towards grandiosity and perfectionism, or towards giving up and hopeless self-abasement.

So, back to your question: maybe our uncontrolled reactions aren't as bad as we (some part of us) thinks they are?

what's this ego business? shouldn't the mind do the "controlling" ? meaning that anything completely uncontrolled (or at least supervised) is bad.

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It's true that a complete lack of control is unbalanced, yes.

But so is complete control.

To me, it's like the difference between a benevolent parent who watches a child so that they don't hurt themselves, but allows them to try whatever they want other than that, compared to one who just abandons them to do whatever they want or one who manages their every move. Probably the first parent doesn't think of what they do for their child in terms of "control" at all.

I'm not an expert, but it seems to me that mania is at least partly organic (from your body, chemical), and might not be controllable by an act of will alone. But the inflation of self that often goes with it ("I'll be able to rule the world" or "I'm the only one who can stop the plot against the government") is a sign of an unregulated ego.

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