Thursday, March 08, 2007

Reality


Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.
--Philip K. Dick


Many people like to suspend their recognition of reality, and pretend that it’s somewhere else, or that the the place where they are is safe and insulated from reality, simply because they're there. That is no reality.

No—the best way to deal with reality is to confront it head on: no pretense, no sugar-coating, no dancing around the issue. Deal with your realities today; disbelief is a temporary narcotic against what must eventually be done.

We do not believe if we do not live and work according to our belief.
--Heidi Wills


You may espouse a certain set of ideals, a level of operation, a standard of performance. But unless you live it—follow those ideals, operate at the level you know you should, and maintain that standard of excellence, you’re only fooling yourself, and no one else. The rest of the world sees and observes and notes those who say one thing and do another. It will ultimately show in your work and resonate in the reputation you must carry with you, regardless of where you are.

No one can build his security upon the nobleness of another person.
--Willa Cather


We all have mentors who help us through our careers…and in a very real sense, our personal friends are mentors, too; guiding, sustaining, even daring to accurately criticize those things within us that need correction from time to time. But ultimately, our destiny, our success must rest in our own laps, be carried upon our own backs.

We cannot depend upon the goodness (or badness) of others in order that we might move forward. It is up to each one of us as individuals to shoulder the responsibility for where we go in life, what we achieve, and what our legacy will be. We can watch, and listen, and learn from others, but the final scorecard is our own, and there are no mulligans in real life.
That is reality.

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