The Ego Has Two Faces

My beard was starting to turn white. I see myself within my memories: working on myself, studying myself, analyzing, and drifting into thought... I’ve come to understand that the ego is not a single entity it has two faces.

One is loud and insatiable. It pushes you to compete, to rise above, to measure your worth by comparing yourself to others. It drags you into an endless race where nothing is ever enough, where someone else's success feels like your own failure. That face of the ego unsettles me. It stirs me. I don't like. It won’t let me rest.

But there is another side. A quieter, more dignified one. It’s the inner voice that lifts you when everything around you pulls you down. The one that calmly whispers, “You don’t deserve this,” when someone crosses a line. That kind of ego doesn’t seek to win it seeks to protect. It doesn’t want to dominate others; it wants to care for you. Without it, maybe you’d never learn to say no. Maybe you wouldn’t know how to defend your space.

True wisdom lies in recognizing both faces. In not letting either one rule you, but also not silencing them completely. Because ego, in its most essential form, isn’t arrogance: sometimes, it’s just dignity.

i was not born to repeat what has already been written, nor to walk paths designed by others.

My vocation is not applause, nor belonging to an elite.

I work for the horse.

And from there, for the human being who truly wishes to learn to listen.

I have devoted my life to the rigorous study of equine behavior, to direct observation, to detailed biomechanical analysis, and to the development of a methodology that deeply respects the horse’s physical, emotional, and cognitive nature. I don’t offer quick formulas. I offer truth, structure, and a work ethic that does not negotiate with haste or institutionalized ignorance.

I have reached out for support to people I admired. Some walked away in silence.

I do not judge them. I understand.

Not everyone is ready to support what they cannot control.

Not everyone knows how to see without projecting.

And not everyone has the courage to endorse someone who doesn’t reflect their own image.

But this does not stop me. It sharpens my focus.

Because if the road were easy, it would not be mine.

I move forward not out of stubbornness, but from conviction.

My work does not seek external validation: it validates itself through the horses that transform, the riders that awaken, and the bonds that heal.

I am Isaac Ares.

My method is born from the convergence of science, sensitivity, and silence.

And those who receive it will not have to imitate me they will have to look within.

Because this is not a technique: it is a way of being.

A way of listening.

A way of honoring life.

Isaac Ares 💚💚