What is Reality

How many times have you heard someone say: that’s not reality?  Recently, in a handful of my conversations, I have heard people all around me coin this phrase and after about the 4^th time I heard it, I felt the need to give this some deeper thought and an in depth view.

What is reality? Is reality the world around us?  Is it our life as we know it?  Maybe it is considered as what is real.  I have heard it said that the term reality is a basis for which is truth or factual to each of us.  Factual or truth, this leads me to only one conclusion and that is our reality is really based on one thing: belief.  What we believe to be true is our reality.  Our own beliefs, good or bad, healthy or unhealthy, determine what we think reality is for ourselves.  This does not mean that universal laws can be broken simply because we believe we can out smart them or work against them and win.  You and I will always be controlled, to some extent, over universal laws as they work 100% of the time, everyday, every month and every year.

What about what we believe to be true for us and our life?  These kinds of beliefs we have total control over.  How we see ourselves, our self confidence, what we expect and how we see our self worth all play a part in our beliefs.  All of these things, controlled by our beliefs, equal our reality.  Not mine, not your neighbors, not your spouses or your parents, but yours.  You see, we operate, do and say things all based on our beliefs.  Every day and each day, our beliefs control a large portion of what it is we do.

Years ago, I had a mentor whose income was always well over $100,000 a year.  It didn’t matter what he did or where we worked, his income consistently grew at whatever it was he did.  Yes, he had some gifts, talents and strengths that helped him make this kind of income, but more than anything, he just believed that this is what he was worth and what he needed (deserved) to provide for his family.  He didn’t make a big deal of it in fact he was actually quite humble about it.  He just had a mindset that was different from most people I have ever been around.  Even today, even though he is doing something totally different than he was back then when I was around him, his income still continues to grow.  Why? Because that is his reality.

Have you ever though to yourself: I could never make $150,000.00 a year?  If you have, it is all because of one thing:  You don’t believe you’re worth it.  My mentor believed he was worth it and therefore, he expected it.  It is your reality that has gotten you to where you are right now.  It’s not your circumstances, the color of your skin, the size of your bank account or where you live.  It is all about what you believe and how you see your reality. 

If you lack in self confidence, your reality may tend to be smaller and look different than someone else’s.  Confident people tend to think bigger, dream bigger and believe bigger - that is their reality.  Combine high self confidence with determination and the love of their career and you will probably find someone who consistently does better in his or her field than others.  Again, that is their reality.  It’s not because of sheer luck or even a once in a life time chance that has come their way.  It’s because of what they believe. 

Have you ever thought about what your reality is?  Have you ever questioned if your reality is too small or even if it is a healthy one?  You can control your reality.  Not by waving a magic wand, not by positive thinking or being an optimistic person, but by changing what you believe. No, changing is not easy, I know this first hand.  But I do know that when you have a reason, a big reason… to change your reality, you will and when you do, you will wonder why it took you so long to do so.

Have a great weekend everyone and Happy Fathers day to all the Fathers out there, be blessed.