The Healthy Management of Reality - Stanford University

Once one becomes aware of oneself and one's surroundings, there is a potentprocess of judging what we perceive and, for many of us, a pull to place ourlimited resources at the service of what we see as good.The more active ideologies do preach a message of limitless possibilities. Atfirst glance, they imply that everything is modifiable, especially human beingsthemselves. But, as one delves more into them, one notices a strong element ofconscious and detailed study of their subject matter. A basic element in many ofthese ideologies is a directive to "face reality." There is an injunction to learn whatreally is, to accept what is, and then to use this knowledge to move toward theperson's goal. The truly effective change agents must first bow to the "will" of thephenomenon they are addressing. They must achieve detachment from their ownwishes about how things ought to be, and see things clearly and objectively. Onlythen can they intervene and hope to succeed.Similarly, this book recommends that we examine how human beingsfunction, and then use the knowledge gained in this process to develop a plan toshape our reality in a healthy manner. Shaping our reality involves shapingourselves first. Thus, the message of the book involves an acceptance of thelimitations as well as the potential of human beings.Control, in the sense of managing the many aspects that make up reality, andof a probabilistic give and take between the individual and the universe, is a given.Individuals do have some control over their thoughts, actions, and feelings. Thequestion is how to use this control. Even "letting fate decide" involves a decisionto give up control. Paradoxically, such a decision involves a great deal of control.Few people are able to approximate this degree of detachment.HMOR.July2005.Muñoz.doc 34