Self Esteem vs. Ego

I think that there is an important difference between self-esteem and ego. For example, I have a relatively small ego and a very healthy amount of self-esteem. I am thinking that these two are inversely proportional, and that by denying things to your ego, you help your self-esteem.

One of the best things you can do if you have self-esteem problems is to help other people and make sure they never know it was you. Like when you see a bike that has fallen over, pick it up so that it is neat, and then continue on your way. The biker will not even know there was a problem in the first place, but you helped them out anyway. This does WONDERS for self-esteem, but absolutely nothing for your ego.

See, my ego wants the biker to know I helped him. And if I do see the biker and tell him, I will feel really good for a second, and then it goes away leaving me feeling dirty. This is good for my ego, and bad for my self-esteem.

So yeah, deny your ego stuff like that, and you will feel damn good about yourself.