Confusing reality with the imagination

It’s easy to imagine things because we know we have absolute control over our thoughts. It takes little effort to adjust or change something that isn’t real in the first place. Every thought, every emotion, every feeling, every everything that takes place inside your mind is simply that: something taking place inside your mind. Your thoughts, your beliefs, they only exist because you exist. You exist within reality and without you, they would not be. They cannot be considered the truth (reality) until you figure out a way to bring them into reality.

Why do we have cars? Why do we have clothes? Why do we have nice homes? We have all of these things because somebody, somewhere had an idea of how to make life easier or better. Instead of arguing that their idea or belief was real, they figured out a way to take what was already here (in this world) and transform those materials into something as close to their idea as possible. The clothes we wear are simply somebody’s idea transformed into reality. Your shirt is really only strands of cotton sewn together. That cotton came from a plant in some field somewhere. That plant came from a seed, and that seed came from a plant. Don’t you get it? Everything comes from something else.

You are living proof that somebody’s idea was transformed into reality. No god made you. Your parents made you and their parents made them. They had an idea, or belief, or thought of having a child. Voila. Here you are. A couple expecting a child wouldn’t go around telling people they have a little boy, would they? No. They would be lying. They would tell people they are expecting a child. Why is it that we think it OK to pass our thoughts and ideas as the truth when they are really only existent in our imaginations? It’s not OK, so stop letting people get away with it.

Rich people aren’t rich because they have a money tree. Rich people are rich because you label them as rich. They had an idea and they figured out a way to bring that idea into reality, and that reality has allowed their bank accounts to grow. Once an idea is born it becomes part of the truth. It doesn’t matter how it was achieved, the simple truth is that they did it. You only think they are rich because you think they have more money than you. I promise somebody thinks you’re rich because they think you have more money than them. Stop complaining because another person’s reality isn’t yours. You create your own reality much like you create your own thoughts. Take special care in creating your reality though, because you share the same reality with all other things.

Conflict occurs when people confuse their thoughts with reality. If I didn’t know any better, the way people who are religious describe their “god” sounds a whole lot like their idea of their perfect self: all-knowing, all-powerful, with them at all times. Sound familiar? I know that I know everything, and I’m always where I am. You know everything that you know. Stop pretending or believing that you don’t. The only thing you don’t know is what you don’t know. The same people who believe in god (made to reflect their own self image sans the negative attributes) describe heaven to sound much like their idea of a perfect life. That life is yours. That life is real. Right here, right now. Realize that.

Imagine a lion cub. He will spend the majority of his life in a zoo. He’s unaware of any other way, therefore he has no idea how “easy” his life really is. The zookeeper feeds him daily, washes him once a week, and all he has to do is lay by the pool and look pretty for all the people visiting the zoo. This is his reality. It’s all he knows. What would happen if he were let loose in the wild? Would he stop being himself? No. He would adapt. Except now he realizes that life isn’t anything like before. He doesn’t complain, he just is. He knows in order to survive he must provide for himself. He knows this. The truths around him never change. He still needs food. He still needs rest. He still needs the exact same things he needed in the zoo. Except now he has to use his imagination to create his own zoo like reality. The problem is we think to much. We think that life should be easier. We think we deserve something better. We think we’re doing the best we can. Stop thinking and start knowing.

Know why you do something. Know why you say something. If somebody asks you what you’re doing, tell them the truth. Do not say, “I don’t know.” You’re lying. You do know. I’m sitting. I’m looking something up on the internet. I’m bla bla bla. Know everything. Know that you are healthy because you take care of yourself. Know you’re alive, and better yet, know you’re not dead. Know all things.

Our greatest strength is our ability to know things. Our most dangerous weakness is our ability to think things. We allow ourselves to believe what we think and ignore what we know. A wise man knows everything that he knows is true because it’s real. It can be proven. He also knows that he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know. If somebody asks you a question to which you do not know the answer, do not lie. Reply, “I don’t know, but let’s find out.” Do not say, “I think…,” because a half truth is a whole lie. A wise man knows this. He knows he’s alive because he knows he’s not dead. He’ll know he’s dead the moment he’s no longer capable of knowing he isn’t alive.

Know what’s real, and most importantly, know what’s not.

3 comments October 24th, 2006