The ability to control our innate nature is probably one of the vital distinction that makes us 'human'.

It is the ability to not eat that chocolate cake in front of you when you are on a diet.

It is the ability to follow rules.

It is the ability to wake up in the morning.

It is the ability to break the cycle of pain.

It is the ability to forgive and forget, time and time again.

Some may call it willpower, but the actual reprogramming of one's ego, moulding it's plasticity is another concept altogether. Willpower may be the force which motivates an action, yet the ability to override human nature is what I coin egoplasticity.

And it is difficult - very difficult.

Unlike a habit, egoplasticity is going against the grain, fighting against the current. The ability to adapt is an amazing human trait, but it is often too similar to osmosis - a natural energy efficient process. Egoplasticity on the other hand is more akin to active transport - it does not come naturally and does not get easier over time. Outwardly, you may seem indifferent the more loved ones you lose, however, each time you lose a loved one, the pain never feels any easier to accept, it never ceases to exist.

Egoplasticity is therefore an ongoing battle - the moon relentlessly pulling at the tides - and more often than not, it is a losing battle. It is all that much easier to go gentle into that good night, all that much easier to conform, all that much easier to succumb to one's animalistic instincts. Egoplasticity is therefore an ideal, but a very tangible one that can succeed.