Relationships, if they are to be successful, require an equal balance of power. As soon as one tries to dominate the other the bond falls apart.  There is no trusting someone who tries to knock you down, whether verbally or physically.  You cannot lean on someone who is quick to leverage your vulnerabilities against you. It’s impossible to rely on someone who poisons the well, turning others against you to make sure your light doesn’t shine too bright. 

Whether consciously or not, people who feel the need to dominate others are playing a game.  The goal is to protect their fragile ego with a false sense of security.  The ego lies to them, indicating that having power over others makes them right, justified, or better in some way.  These self-inflated feelings keep one’s wounds out of sight.  Ironically it’s those very wounds that created the superiority complex in the first place.  And while, in the short-term, one may “win” that game through controlling others, in the long-term they will have lost tragically.  They will have missed the greatest opportunity in the human experience:  to love. 

Relationships are their most powerful when that power is balanced. 

We can consider these questions to check where our egos may be harming that stability: 

Do you put others down who disagree with you? 

Do you try to intimidate others with anger? 

Do you throw one’s personal sharing in their face? 

Do you violate another's confidence? 

Do you talk behind others’ backs? 

Do you manipulate others to get what you want? 

And perhaps the key question to begin restoring balance in our relationships is this: 

Do you know where you are wounded and what are you going to do about it? 

May you be inspired!