Friendly Self Importance
Importance requires us to perceive along a very narrow band of perception. Relative importances requires us to perceive along these same narrow bands. Restricting perception, whatever or wherever we place out attention, it is there that importance is born. Our attention gives importance definition.
Where that attention is placed determines perception. How focused that attention is tuned is in direct proportion to the importance we place upon the object of perception. With importance, nothing else exists.
Consider self-importance. The self is considered as being more important than another self. The amount of attention in which you place upon yourself determines just how selfish you are. No one can even come close to your own egoic tendencies. It is called survival of the fittest and through that demonstration you consider that all will be destroyed.
That destruction takes many forms. Anger, sarcasm, violence, greed, fear and hopes for the future all exude importance. An individual cannot help but demonstrate their own importance in everything that they see, do and say. Even the air around an individual can become 'charged' with the importance of their self. It seeks destruction and by becoming associated with it in any way, through physical or mental means, you can be assured that your destruction becomes threatened. You react and in that reaction war is initiated. The war of selves, of the ego, spills forth upon the land and will not be denied until another submits. With submission comes loss of importance and this is not something which can be easily acquiesced.
Feeling the heat of emotion, the warning of what is to come can be denied. Knowing the depths of self importance and of the many forms it takes helps to keep the wolf at bay. It is an aspect of ourselves that we will go to great lengths to hide and yet is easily perceived by all.
Conquering importance necessitates the acquisition of knowledge. Dominating our urge of domination is not for the faint of will. Taking control of your life, your thoughts and your future requires it none-the-less. Freeing ourselves from ourselves is a full time job in which little time is left for demonstrating our importance to, and through, others. Allowing ourselves expression is not the same as allowing ourselves to dominate. The only way to set yourself free is to become as important as the wind which scents the air with a thought that always seems to be on the very edge of our awareness and yet full comprehension escapes us as to what that thought is.
Exhibiting understanding is not the same as importance. The two are remarkably dissimilar. If you really wish for the importance of yourself, then by all means, fully understand what the makeup of that importance is. I can assure you, it will be found to be something quite different than what you have deigned to be important.
We are all just the shadows on the wall of life. As one shadow says to another "You are the illusion, I, the real." Fooling ourselves in playing the importance game fools no one but yourself. Have you had enough of your own self importance yet? When you do, you will find others looking to you for guidance. Don't make the mistake in thinking that those who seek your guidance are like you, yourself. Domination requires us to learn methods and techniques from all sorts of avenues. Ultimately, in that learning there will come a time when the light goes on and self importance will be allowed to fall by the wayside. Believe me, it is not the friend you so wish it to be.
No matter the cloak, self importance seeks survival. Do you?