The Healthy Management of Reality - Stanford University

Sex is another activity that can have major consequences. Theseconsequences begin with danger to one and one’s partner in the form of sexuallytransmitted diseases, including the HIV virus. In addition, there is the effect on athird person who has nothing to do with the decision of having sex: the child thatcan be engendered by this act. It is sobering to realize that most human beings arethe result of unintended pregnancies. Only a very small percentage of us were bornas a result of a sexual act intended to bring about a pregnancy. The stress broughtabout by an unplanned pregnancy can be very disruptive to the parents’ lives andcan have a major impact on the child’s development and, therefore, the rest of hisor her life. These effects, of course, affect our communities and our society as awhole. The amount of suffering that would be avoided if we reduce the proportionof unintended pregnancies significantly is unimaginable.Life can bring pain and suffering. There is enough pain and suffering to goaround even if we do not add any more to it. The irony is that, often, it is what wedo that adds the most amount of suffering to our lives. One of the goals of ahealthy management of reality would be to try to reduce unnecessary suffering tothe smallest possible level.HMOR.July2005.Muñoz.doc 43