The Healthy Management of Reality - Stanford University

Closing the Loop: The four levels as a cycleOnce one reaches the fourth level of change, one automatically moves to thefirst level. Choosing a particular philosophy of life demands that one becomeaware of the specific thoughts and behavior one engages in. If one’s philosophy oflife involves considering human life important, then the thoughts and behaviorsone will foster become clear: thoughts that demean others need to be replaced withthoughts that respect their unique value; behaviors which harm others must becurtailed, and those which help them must be nurtured. One can more clearlycoach oneself to live according to one’s values. And logic can be used in theservice of one’s values.One’s philosophy of life is like the architect’s design of our internal reality.The specific thoughts and behaviors are like the bricks and mortar, the beams andwindowpanes. The self-coaching is like the blueprints, the subcontracts, the ordersone gives to the workers. And the logical analysis of beliefs is like the analysis ofweight and balance, of symmetry or planned asymmetry, of light and darkness, ofthe order of the rooms that will ultimately result in a finished building.Our internal reality is, in many ways, our ongoing masterpiece. The effortsnecessary to keep it healthy and energy-giving are well spent. We create it, shapeit, and mold it, with each passing thought. We channel our streams ofconsciousness toward peacefulness or desperation. We develop a view of life thatis coherent or chaotic. And we live in this creation each moment of our lives.HMOR.July2005.Muñoz.doc 84