I’ve been told that ego stands for “edging G-d out”. It seems like G-d and my ego are at odds. When I am G-d-centric, my ego is smaller and I’m less offended by things that tend to get “under my skin”. Yet, when everything is about me, pushing G-d to the sidelines, my ego is inappropriately inflated. Our new JLI course “Nourishing Relationships” started this week, and the topic was “The Art of Empathy”. It turns out that it’s impossible to be empathetic when we are full of ourselves. If we allow our primal, animalistic, selfish instincts to control our life, there is no room for others, but if we have a more G-d-centered experience, there is room for our friends and family, as we don’t take up all the space.