The Healthy Management of Reality - Stanford University

It appears, then, that there is a range of self-esteem within which one canfunction in a healthy manner. Molding one's internal reality so that this range isaccessible most of the time would be a worthwhile goal. Similarly there isprobably a range of activities that are healthy -- but too few or too many are likelyto cause problems. And there is probably an optimal level of social contact: havingno friends or confidants is related to greater levels of illness and dysfunction, butone could as well imagine being overwhelmed with social activities, leading toeither running oneself ragged, or being unable to have other than superficialcontact with many people.On the Desirability of "Control"There are many traditions that speak to what is desirable in terms of seekingcontrol. Some appear to suggest that the best path is one of complete surrender toGod, to fate, or to reality, and that attempts to achieve one's goals are a bad sign ofhuman pride ("hubris"), a possibly tragic way of tempting fate, or merely anillusion of control rather than a recognition that things merely are the way they are.Belief systems such as these often portray the more active ones as leading itsproponents into futile struggles which are either destructive, doomed to failure, orboth.The more active ideologies espouse the value of self-determination, thedignity of "pulling oneself up by one's bootstraps," and the need to actively createone's future.At first glance, this book, beginning with its title, appears to have a lot morein common with the latter than with the former. But it is important to see that itdraws much from both camps.The first set of ideologies remind us of how limited we human beings are.HMOR.July2005.Muñoz.doc 32