The Healthy Management of Reality - Stanford University

It is important to remember that choosing a direction does not predeterminewhere one will end up. The beauty and the mystery of life is that picking adirection merely opens up certain possibilities. As one pursues that direction, onecomes across vistas that one could not have imagined at the outset of the journey.So, in molding oneself, and in molding one's reality, there is a great deal ofdiscovery. One never knows the final shape that one's masterpiece will embody. Itis probably more accurate to speak of this process as self-directed change, but notself-determined change. Thus, the healthy management of reality does not imply areduction in possibilities, but rather a concerted effort at increasing the chancesthat desirable and meaningful possibilities will be perceived and experienced.The search for certaintyThe search for certainty seems wired in to the human brain. We seek surefiremethods to get what we want. We seek guarantees of avoiding pain andtragedy. We seek predictability.This need for certainty can come in very handy for those who are sure thatthey have found panaceas, or who are willing to promise anything to gain moneyor fame. A myriad of advertisements promise success, health, and wealth if oneonly buys a certain product or takes up a certain lifestyle.Realistically, we can only be promised a greater or lesser chance that this orthat will happen. If we exercise, we are more likely to have more strength, tocontrol our weight better, to remain healthy. But, of course, it is possible toexercise faithfully and still get sick, and even to die while exercising.HMOR.July2005.Muñoz.doc 63