Looking at the World Realistically

The human being is a mobile creature, changing positions to access resources it needs to survive. To move, it is dependent on its senses to navigate this physical world.

If navigating the physical world isn't hard enough, complicating things even further is the need to have psychological clarity. The human is comprised of related systems; like all interlocking systems, like all relationships, there are times when the connection isn't the best that it can be. Whether as a result of friction between these systems (chemical imbalances affecting emotions) or an imbalance of intensity (passion overriding reason), weak systemic connections will always occur to some degree.

This is psychological muddiness; this is where delusion begins.

When one begins to see things the way one wants to see them and not as the way they are, one engages in self-delusion. This does not only extend to positive, feel-good fantasies, but also to negative, paranoiac ones.

Many things hampers one's ability to see clearly. Expectations, fantasies, desires, culture, emotional baggage, mental conditions - all these things affect our ability to perceive what really is, and to veer into the real of delusion. These things pin the mind down to tiny details and enlarge them into something that fits the fantasy; these things brush away the apparent and the obvious to make way for what 'feels' right.

The only antidote to this is self control.

If one wants to see clearly, one needs to wipe away the moisture in one's eyes, swat away the smoke that clouds the vision. Passion hampers one's perspective, fear suffocates one's perception. One who wants to see things for what they are must also be prepared for the truth, and some people aren't ready to deal with the truth. They would rather indulge themselves in fantasies to make them feel good about themselves, or to convince themselves that they could no better in life.

Thus, where delusion attempts to protect our vanity and to shield us from fear, we must push back, must refuse to indulge in fantasy and delusion, to see the situation for what it really is, even if it crushes our vanity and submerges us in what we fear. It will be painful; delusion is a defense mechanism, and one is essentially lowering down one's shields in order to see better. It will hurt - the vast expanse of horizon will take some getting used to, but it is always worth it. One can stop creating imaginary worlds in the mind and begin constructing a life that needs no illusions to supplement it.

Only when one sees clearly where one is going will there be a real chance of getting there.