Atom Smasher
Master Don Juan
Shorthand, my friend.You do not create your own reality.
First, reason should be considered a half way house to reality - it correlates in some way but is not definitive, or representative of it. Language is figurative and analogical, NOT literal.
Reason/ philosophy has largely fallen into disrepute because it too readily associated with rationalism/ ideology, where language is serious, literal, and artless.
The existential reaction to this is to say you can create your own reality, which is essentially irrationalism [a shadow form of reason]
Rather, reason should be seen in some kind of dialogue or dialectical movement with reality. Consider it a dance, even an erotic dance of sorts... as the Greeks did.
The trouble with excessive rationalism/reason is that they blind one to the incredible power of hitting the reset switch and considering oneself capable of that which he "knew" couldn't be possible for him.
I suppose I live in a state (or "world") where I have a bit of a knack for leveraging the best of rationalism and also creative instinct that dares to challenge the "known" or "established".
I've often quoted Shakespeare with his "Assume a virtue if you have it not" because no one that I know of has ever expressed better the power of a man to challenge his very reality and acquire new abilities based solely upon on acting as if. When a man acts as if something is true, even when all empirical evidence screams the opposite, he can move the immovable and can affect how others regard him.
I know that what I describe is simplistic, but it was enough to turn my life around and to free me from my former helplessness.