Give Me A Dose of What is Real

18 Mar

Posted by Steve as Freedom

Role play. Pretend you are Neo. Would you take the red pill, or the blue? Personally, I’m taking whichever one will lead me to fulfillment; a happiness of knowing what is… “real”. The one which leads me to all the sensible, responsible, proper, and aristocratic pleasures in life, such as, for example my favorite, stoning adulterers.

We say we want the truth, but is it what we really want? Well, Sometimes… but why then do we delude ourselves?

My friend Julia is a sensitive, caring, curious young woman. Julia confided in me the other day upon hearing that the love of her life, the one she would have given her hand to, was lying to her. He was lying to her and cheating on her. Julia told me what she knew and had heard. I, being my own direct, bold, but also suave self, confirmed her deepest fears, pitched my two cents that she should dump him in the gutter. Despite the insurmountable amount of flack she had on this man’s guilt, it took a considerable amount of psychological sledge hammering by me to help her get out of her cycle of depression and rationalization from her (now) ex lover’s behavior. She knew she was being played for months, even years but still refused to face the facts.

Why do many of us allow ourselves to fall so immensely into our illusions? How are you living — in which ways are you deluding and depriving yourself and ultimately your happiness?

Discovering truthfully what reality is for me and fighting for what I want it to be is continuing to be the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. But, I wouldn’t change a thing… I would rather die fighting on my feet than live on my knees. Give me the dose of what is… “real.”

David Windmiller is a student at Purdue University, majoring in Chemistry, Psychology, minoring in Biology, Philosophy and preparing to enter medical school in 2009. David enjoys critical thinking, meditating, and writing about why we as people push our lives in certain directions and how our life quality can be enriched.

You can read David’s blog at http://www.davidwindmiller.com/.

4 Responses

Caroline Middlebrook

March 19th, 2008 at 2:10 am
1

Reality is highly subjective anyway - it only has any meaning if you believe that your current reality is going to stay as your future reality. I prefer to think of it merely as a reflection of the state of things as a result of past actions and I don’t see current reality as having any bearing on my future one.
David Windmiller

March 19th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
2

Looks great, Steve! Thanks!

Reality may be subjective in the sense that a politician will have a different cognitive filter for day to day experiences than a starving citizen for example.

Also, there is the perspective of “being true to yourself”, eliminating self-delusion, seeing things for the way they really are (instead of how you wish they were), and improving and bettering yourself so you may best align how things really are with how you want things to be. This is more of an objective and highly personal pursuit, I believe.

Your comment has given me much food for thought Caroline, I’ll have to think and write about it :)
Chas

March 20th, 2008 at 10:12 am
3

“Why do many of us allow ourselves to fall so immensely into our illusions?”

The answer is….ALL of us do. There is no other reality other than the one we see ourselves in. If you have a broken ankle today, then you know what I mean. Your reality today will be nearly 100% different than anybody who sees you. Do you see yourself as a person who gets things done? Or do you see yourself as a person avoiding pain today.

The reality that you choose is the one you get to work with.
It’s the only reality that there is.
AJC @ 7million7years

March 21st, 2008 at 8:17 am
4

… or you can just not sweat the decision: take whichever of the Red/Blue pills seems right for now, because life rarely just gives you two pills … there will be many, many more red/blue pill decisions to come … some will edge you further away from your goals (bummer) some closer (great) … ultimately, it will be the cocktail of pills that you swallowed OVER TIME (don’t overdose!) that will dictate how you end up.

In financial terms, having a clear understanding of both your Life’s Goal, and The Number (the amount of money required to support that goal) will help you through the red/blue pill quandries as and when they come up.