The Healthy Management of Reality - Stanford University

Our physical environment is the next layer of our external reality. Its abilityto keep us warm, physically safe (for example, away from second-hand smoke),and to provide us with sufficient (but not too much) stimulation, increases ordecreases the probability that we will experience a sense of well-being. The socialenvironment contained within our physical environment is another major source ofhealth or illness. The people with whom we spend our time have great influenceon what we think and what we do. They can encourage healthy or harmful lifestyles. They can support life-enhancing behavior or drain us.Our internal reality affects the probability that we will seek or create healthyexternal realities. The types of thoughts we have, the kinds of plans we make, thereactions we have to particular people or events, all result in changes in theprobability that we will even consider the effect of people and places on our health.The combined effects of our internal and external reality increase ordecrease the probability that we will experience healthy mood states. Moodstraddles internal and external reality. Mood is amenable to physical observation,to a certain extent. A smile, a frown, or a tear can give witness to identifiableemotions and their accompanying moods. However, the subjective meaning of atear is only known to the person experiencing the emotion. Moods and emotionsare the constant evaluators of our ongoing experience. They color our consciousexistence. And thus they are a particularly important part of our personal reality.Thus, emotional health is in some ways even more important than physical health.It is possible to imagine someone who is terminally ill being emotionally at peace.Somehow, this individual elicits less pity than a physically healthy person rackedwith emotional desperation.HMOR.July2005.Muñoz.doc 67