This is another interesting phrase in my life recently and one I’m finding to be rather peculiar. In general, the people I know that call themselves “Realists” I usually find to be pessimists. However, they don’t feel they are pessimists because “Realists” are merely just speaking the truth about how the world operates. The “Realists” I’ve known in my life believe they are the midway point between optimists and pessimists. And yet, I can’t seem to recall an instance when a realists has ever given me a “good truth”.
People are bad. People are evil. Humans disgust me. The government is corrupt. They’re just trying to take your money. True love doesn’t exist anymore. I don’t trust anybody anymore. People are liars. Life is hard and unfair. Life is miserable. I’d rather be alone. Better I hurt them before they hurt me. People only care about themselves. I only care about myself. People are selfish. Why would you want to have babies and bring them into this corrupt world? The list can (unfortunately) go on and on.
I hear people talk like that and I just shake my head. There is just so much pain and negativity there and yet they defend that there’s just telling the truth, they’re just being realistic. But none of those things are REAL to me… That’s not the world I live in. And yet we live in the same world so how can that be? Which one is the truth? And maybe the bigger, more important question, “What IS real?”
This quote by Anais Nin sums it up perfectly, “We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are.”
That got me thinking… If everything we perceive to be real comes from within us, doesn’t that make us ALL realists?? Wow… that’s been a paradigm shifting thought for me the last few days. Given my new definition, I’m a realist too. It does make me a little sad to think about the reality of these other people who see/feel so much negativity in the world but it’s not my place to judge. Rather, as I have talked about in my last few posts, it’s another opportunity to practice compassion and understanding. And it’s not my job to challenge their reality and convince them otherwise. Instead, my job is to just keep living and growing my reality. To find truth, understanding, peace, and acceptance in a reality truly and uniquely my very own.
Yes, I am a Realist.
Namaste.
Oh very good paradigm shift indeed! Yes, we *are* all realist, and we all create our own realities with every breath and thought.
When I hear all those negative thoughts expressed as realism, I know it is the reality of that person, it’s their perception of their life. But it sounds and feels to me a lack of hope. I wonder if there is an optimism gene that either is switched on or off at certain points? Maybe after percieved stress, or prolonged stress… I don’t know, but it puzzles me.
How odd that we all live on the same planet, experiencing the same light and breathing the same air, and yet interpret things so differently. Sometimes even within the very same household, this difference exists – between siblings who underwent exactly the same conditions growing up.
Namaste,
in conjunction with Ms. Wood’s response, indeed we are all realists, but our reality does differ from the next person’s. The neat thing about it all is that we do still live in the same world to a great extent, I suppose how we choose to live in the world is a large part of our reality. We are the creators of our own realities, so let’s create something wonderful.
Om Shanti