The Healthy Management of Reality - Stanford University

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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
Summary.Human beings have the existential experience of choosing among manypossibilities. This book is dedicated to helping us think about how our thoughts,behaviors, and feelings help channel reality in certain directions. This chapterexplicitly acknowledges that we do not have absolute control over our thoughtsand actions, and that, even if we did, that much control might backfire. The idealis not complete control, but a give-and-take that gradually leads our reality inhealthy directions.HMOR.July2005.Muñoz.doc 35
Page 1 and 2: The HealthyManagementof RealityRica
Page 3 and 4: The Healthy Management of RealityCo
Page 5 and 6: Preface: The Origins of This BookEv
Page 7 and 8: serious depression. The course was
Page 9 and 10: Introduction: Sculpting RealityIn m
Page 11 and 12: The people of the Andes found thems
Page 13 and 14: Chapter 1On Managing RealityThe uni
Page 15 and 16: To continue with the example: If ou
Page 17 and 18: But, given that we are finite and l
Page 19 and 20: The objective environment refers to
Page 21 and 22: Throughout the book, we will addres
Page 23 and 24: Chapter 2Choosing a Direction"If yo
Page 25 and 26: Choosing a direction for one's life
Page 27 and 28: Few Christians would support the re
Page 30 and 31: The "healthy" aspect of "the health
Page 32 and 33: It appears, then, that there is a r
Page 36 and 37: HMOR.July2005.Muñoz.doc 36
Page 38 and 39: are what I mean by necessary suffer
Page 40 and 41: unnecessary and can be prevented.Th
Page 42 and 43: the things that cause human sufferi
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Page 46 and 47: past that we remember (that is our
Page 48 and 49: The objective past had not changed,
Page 50 and 51: The fact is that five years hence,
Page 52 and 53: - The meanings we have accepted or
Page 54 and 55: Molding the past of our childrenThe
Page 56 and 57: - The child's core beliefs. Though
Page 58 and 59: your favorite book afterwards") the
Page 60 and 61: making sure that one's daily realit
Page 62 and 63: Change can move us toward a healthi
Page 64 and 65: Similarly, behaving in an exemplary
Page 66 and 67: Similarly, it is true that certain
Page 68 and 69: Learning which thoughts and actions
Page 70 and 71: do what you wish. If you are able,
Page 72 and 73: Tips on increasing the probability
Page 74 and 75: influence on us on one side and tho
Page 76 and 77: Being your own coach involves decid
Page 78 and 79: Beliefs and ConsequencesThe third l
Page 80 and 81: Aaron Beck, a psychiatrist who deve
Page 82 and 83: We Are Meaning-MakersThe fourth lev
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Closing the Loop: The four levels a
Page 86 and 87:
To manage our reality optimally, we
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If you are feeling down or depresse
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PeopleThe social environment is at
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stimulation just as they need their
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In Chapter 2, I talked about choosi
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As we enter the twenty-first centur
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years. As I trace back my thinking
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what we both want.If we have a stro
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we will have progressed in terms of
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The Healthy Management of Reality - Stanford University

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