What Is Reality?

Last night, I watched The Truman Show on Netflix. 

In the movie, Jim Carrey plays a 30-year old man who doesn't know his life has been a televised reality show since birth. Feeling trapped in a world that seems "off" to him, Truman embarks on a journey to find the truth about what exists beyond the walls of the giant sound stage that he always believed was real.


One of the most profound lines of dialogue happens when the producer of Truman's reality show is asked whether it's fair to imprison Truman in an artificial world that he has little control over.


He responds by saying "we accept the reality that is presented to us."


And to me, that line sums up the human condition.


Wherever you are this morning in your health, career, finances, and relationships is simply the culmination of what you have accepted as your reality.


We put off pursuing our passions because we feel it's not "realistic" to find time for them.


We resign ourselves to staying single and tell people "The reality is that I will be forever alone."


We stay stuck financially because we believe a reality in whichthe economy is "rigged."


But here's what I believe.  


What we call "reality" is really just our own interpretation of the past.


If you look at your breakup as proof that love always ends in heartbreak, that thought will shape your reality and inform how you put yourself out there (or don't put yourself out there)  in the dating world moving forward. 


However, If you look at that breakup as a divine lesson that helped you grow and made you better for the next person, that thought will also shape your reality.


The person who believes the second meaning is much better setup to find love than the person who takes the disempowering meaning and makes it their truth.


So what is your story? Is the parent who didn't love you proof that you are an awful, unlovable person? Or did having an emotionally unavailable parent teach you to be self-reliant so that you could learn to take charge of your life and make bold decisions without needing approval of others?


Is the soul-sucking career that bores you proof that you have to "sell out to the man" to earn a living? Or is it the catalyst to push you towards a new career which feels in line with your mission?


In The Truman Show, the main character had to make a decision to challenge everything he once believed in order to get to a bigger truth. He had to make a decision to create a new reality that made him feel more alive.


And the same holds true for you and I. Our personal growth journey is about unlearning the hundreds of false beliefs that we accept and remembering who we truly are.