Letting go

Our safety and well-being are not dependent on the extent to which we control our lives. Control is an illusion. We are not separate from life, from the lives around, from this country's or global events. Attempting control separates us and brings misery more often than not. "No man is an island, no man stands alone. Each man's joy is joy to me, each man's grief is our own".
(Words to a song that I can't remember the title of as I write this).

Letting go of the belief that control is possible means we can let go of the idea that control keeps us safe. We've been so well conditioned to believe that in the attempt to keep ourselves and loved ones safe and happy we more often open the door to anxiety and suffering. We've even been taught not to think of ourselves so much, to be afraid of cracking the door to self and thereby have let go of considering ourselves as separate egos.

Being rather a scholar in human development, I know that developing an ego is an important aspect in human growth. However, development of the ego is a stage rather than the end product of person hood. Like the development of a cocoon is a natural and necessary part of being a caterpillar. However, development doesn't stop there. At some point the cocoon begins to soften, wear thin then opens into the next stage. What if there were a natural process much like this that involves our opinions, possessions, attitudes, beliefs and our ego. What if the ego is enveloped in a cocoon and one day it opens, not to the darkness of fear and death, but spreads its wings under a warm and loving sun to fly on to another stage?