Does having a beautiful girlfriend boost your ego?

Home - Quora Link

A friend of mine, stunningly beautiful, related this story to me. A male friend of hers has been losing weight. A lot of weight. I haven’t met or talked to him in years, but she describes symptoms of anorexia.

A friend of his is in town, another lady, also stunningly beautiful. She’s married, but not to him. They go to dinner, calling my lady friend for advice on where to eat. After dinner he takes her to a dance club, begging my friend to go along.

These are Ethiopians, and I’ve been friends with one long enough to have a basic grasp on the culture in order to answer the obvious questions. No, she wasn’t cheating on her husband by going out to dinner and dancing with them. Ethiopians have a very sophisticated social culture that renders such things mostly impossible.

When he and his two stunningly beautiful female companions hit the club, they’re instantly the center of attention. This is a guy who used to be just another one of the schmoes gathering dust at the bar is now living the glamorous life, at least for one night.

My friend begs him to start eating again, he looks like a skin and bones meth-head. He says no, he’s having the time of his life and he has tons of energy. It shows in his dancing, he’s got this crazy nervous energy.

Everybody else around him just sees the beautiful companions and thinks, “oh, he must be a fun, interesting guy if these ladies are hanging around him.” And I suppose in a way they’re right.

But every last little thing about those surface appearances is wrong, hollow, sad. Our friend is wasting away and it won’t be long before the health problems start to overcome his nervous energy. These ladies he is with are not romantically interested in him and think of him as merely a friend. His fun evening will last but a night though it’ll be that night he’s going to point to to justify continuing with anorexia. In fact, it may push him over the edge and threaten his life.

And there’s nothing anybody can do to stop it. It’s a slow motion train wreck and anybody looking can see it coming. He’d see it too if he cared to look. But he’s not, he’s too focused on the glamour.

Yes. Having an attractive partner will boost your ego. It can boost it so much you’ll develop the hubris to throw the rest of your life away for one magical moment. You’ll sell yourself on the illusion of a perfect wife and perfect life and overlook every little thing telling you that it’s all wrong.