The Healthy Management of Reality - Stanford University

EpilogOn the Practice of the Presence of GoodWe have now come to the end of the book. Just as when I reach the end ofany teaching relationship, a part of me wishes to remember the most importantinformation or advice I know, so that I can share it with my students or patients asthey leave my office or classroom for the last time. At an intellectual level, Iunderstand that there are no magic pieces of knowledge that will make thedifference in people's lives. Nevertheless, I wish to share with you one morethought, one more metaphor.The healthy management of reality is itself a metaphor, of course. I haveused the image of sculpting reality, which involves molding yourself and yourworld in a manner that produces health: physical, emotional, and spiritual health.Now I want to add the image of learning to become conscious of this practice, thepractice of healthy reality management, in a way that not only serves to preventunnecessary suffering and reduce the effects of stressful events, but also brings intoone's daily life a feeling of wonder, purpose, and inner peace.Becoming aware of one's internal and external world, and how our thoughtsand actions can shape them, is a key aspect of the ideas described in this book.These ideas can be used to achieve many objectives, from very limited ones to veryglobal ones. One can consider these ideas gimmicks, parlor tricks with littlesubstance, to be used as a pastime and discarded easily. Or one can construe themas a general tool for achieving fundamental lifelong goals. This section is intendedto illustrate the latter.HMOR.July2005.Muñoz.doc 93