How I Create My Own Reality

Written by Austin Sprawls. Engage with him on Tw or G+

I once believed that we all should see the world the same way.

Of course, this caused problems in my life because if someone didn’t see things the way I saw them, then that made them wrong in my mind.

But I know now that everybody is completely right… at least in his or her own mind. But that’s all that matters.

If everyone is right in her own mind, then that means we are all lying to ourselves. We can’t all be telling the “truth”. Nothing has any meaning when I look at the world from a HUGE perspective. If I look at the earth like an astronaut in outer space does, it changes everything. All things that happen to me seem to have a lot less significance. I remember how I am going to die, and things seem a lot less serious.

This is incredibly freeing to me. As a human, I must give meaning to events, otherwise I will become depressed and suicidal.  I used to tell myself the lies that “life is a struggle” and “everything is complex”. I now choose to tell myself lies like “life is a game” and “things are simple”. Life is a lot more enjoyable and less stressful when I live by these lies. (I call these “lies” because it reminds me that everyone thinks they are right in their own mind).

This also means that nothing has ever really happened to me. The only thing that has happened is that I’ve made a set of perceptions about events in my life.

If someone says something to me, it is really just sound vibrations entering my ear and sending a message to my brain. It is up to me to decide whether I perceive those vibrations as “mean” or “nice” or “rude” or “charming”.

Likewise, any memories I have are not how things really happened. It is just how things are viewed from my mind.  I have the power and ability to choose any meaning I want. It all depends on how I want to feel.

This doesn’t mean that I never feel down or powerless. I still suffer from pain, but I am able to remind myself that I am choosing to suffer. With that awareness, I can bring myself out of a negative state. Living with this view of reality, I am in complete control of how I feel.

Take care,
Austin