Life is a series of contracts the ego makes with itself; reality is the shadow these contracts put upon our souls. Just as a businessman makes a contract with other businessmen, so too does your ego make contracts. These contracts begin when you are a child, and you unknowingly enter into them with your parents, friends, teachers, employers, and the mass media. These contracts will make you poor, sad, and unhealthy if they are kept. Our ego tells us how much time and effort to spend in getting others to approve of us. Everyone goes through a domestication period-a time where others tell us what we should eat, act like, want, and not want. This domestication period ends when we decide that it has ended.