One of the biggest secrets we try to keep is a sense of autonomy and pride. The idea or feeling that you are important in some special way, that you are loved by a special person, that somebody is giving you special attention, these are some of the ego’s very subtle secrets. We are trying to hide our Divine Self and are playing all these different games, which seem to be very upsetting. It is pretty depressing and it really doesn’t go anywhere, so we try to get scraps of special love, attention and recognition to prop ourselves up. acim