Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Victorious Living

Home
Family, Parenting and Religion
The Increasing Struggle to Live in Reality

The Increasing Struggle to Live in Reality

Last updated on: September 7, 2019 at 10:49 pm by Victorious Living

The Increasing Struggle to Live in Reality 2019-09-07T22:49:37-04:00 Victorious Living

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

It may sound a little weird, but one of the greatest struggles about being human is living within reality.

Life is hard. Really hard. And rather than face the harshness of reality, we try to escape it in a myriad of ways. We give ourselves over to addictions. We deny reality and create our own stories. We sink too deep into movies or books, using stories that are a metaphor for reality as an excuse to drift into a dreamland.

The thing that is hard about reality is truth. Truth is an acquired taste. And some of us never really adapt to it. Truths like the fact that we are not in control, that suffering has value, and that we will never be fully satisfied are difficult to accept. So difficult we could spend our entire lives searching for an alternative narrative, trying to escape reality.

How To Avoid Reality

All of our struggles are a result of our inability to understand reality. We don’t comprehend the truth. And so we start to make it up. Quite literally. We start to believe that things have to work this way or that, that we are entitled to an outcome or experience, or that our limited knowledge is the extent of truth. The holes are filled in by our biases and predispositions, by political and even theological upbringing. While these things can also promote reality, it seems humanity is trending in the other direction.

As we drift further and further from reality, truth becomes more and more distant. It can be like a spec on the horizon after years of self-sabotage, addiction, and narcissistic justification.

It’s easy to avoid reality. Just create a new one. And force everything into your new stream. People are suggesting your stream is nonsense? Frame them as enemies of truth, vessels of evil out to destroy the common good. Someone hurt your feelings? Make them out to be a Disney villain, so clearly malicious. You want something good you shouldn’t have? Highlight the reasons this will be good for you and stuff the negative consequences in pursuing it. Cast yourself as the victim. Blame your circumstances when things go awry (better yet, pretend at humility and control, as if you foresaw all these troubles and can handle it with ease).

Avoiding truth has become a plague in our world. It has clouded the way we view social issues like poverty, race, and gender. It has diluted the way we think about ourselves and our relationships. We are drifting further and further from reality.

The Consequences

The result is that we feel lost and alone. Our narratives aren’t working. We are afraid reality will disappoint us only to find the false-narratives we accept are even worse. Suicide rates, terrorism, mental illness. It is all a consequence of our false narratives.

The cure is simple, if difficult. The cure is to commit to pursuing truth. To get our feet back on the ground. To be willing to search for and find the truth no matter what it costs us, how much it disappoints or confuses. To follow where it leads rather than our predisposed understanding of what will end in peace and joy. Living in reality is hard. But it is the only way to discover justice, harmony, and peace. First within ourselves and then in the world at large.

Previous Post

July 17, 2019

What Does Their Talent Say About You?

Next Post

July 22, 2019 The Gift of Repentance

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Choices Conflict Resolution Culture Change Emotions Failure Faith Fear Freedom V Growth Healthy Communication Hope Identity Influence Leadership Learn Mistakes Mood Curve Ownership Perspective Power Relationships Self-Awareness Self-Governance Systems Thinking Three Things You Control Transformational Leadership Trust Truth Uncategorized Values Vision

Select a Month January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: Hebrews teaches that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Select your answer to see how you score.

FALSE TRUE

Books by This Author Books by Victorious Living

See All Titles »