The Healthy Management of Reality - Stanford University

We Are Meaning-MakersThe fourth level of internal reality management involves our personalphilosophy of life. Our philosophy of life is the way we see the world, the way wemake sense of life, the stance we take toward life. It is the product of all theinfluences we have had over the years. For some people, these influences arewoven into a coherent, conscious philosophy of life. For others, they are lessorganized, more a matter of habit than of choice.As long as our lifestyle leads to healthy outcomes for ourselves and thosearound us, there is little need to question our philosophy of life. But it is importantto realize that our philosophy of life is something that is under our control. Wehave the right to reconsider it, modify it, or make it even stronger.Our philosophy of life does not have to be “logical.” It does not have to bebased on incontrovertible evidence. It can be a matter of personal preference. Butit is not irrelevant or inconsequential. Our philosophy of life creates meaning forus, it places our experiences in a personal context, it gives importance to somethings and allows us to dismiss others as trivial.Knowing that we can change our philosophy of life can be very freeing. Inmany ways, the fact that we can do this is the ultimate freedom. Viktor E. Frankl,author of Man’s Search for Meaning, talks about how what he calls “attitudinalvalues” can provide meaning even in the most extreme circumstances. They canprovide motivation for taking on difficult and even painful tasks. They can bringus peace in the midst of tragedy.Being aware of our “attitudinal values” makes it possible to strengthen themor change them. These values include such basic things as the value of human life,of liberty, equality, love for others, compassion, and the value of work and effort.When applied to our own life, they provide us with direction, with reasons for whatHMOR.July2005.Muñoz.doc 82