Define "Reality"!? What does it mean to you? Is your reality and mine the same?

People often say things like, "Face reality", "Live in the real world" etc etc.. But what IS reality and where is this 'real world' at?

People say they 'own their own house', but are mortgaged up to the hilt and wont own a thing until its all paid off. Is this reality?

They say things like, "Im not racist/ sexist/....ist BUT......." then trot out a racist, sexist or whatever-ist statement. Is that reality?

They run their lives to the clock, to time, an 'invention' created by man in a futile attempt  to bring control and order to the Universe. The cosmos goes on regardless of whatever humans do anyway. Is this reality? 

They let their Ego dehumanise others so that they can feel justified in their violent anger towards others, yet all are Spirit and as "God' said, "What you do to the least of these, you do to me!". Is it reality then to feel superior to your fellow human?

This 'reality', this physical world - ALL of it shall pass away into nothing. It shall change beyond recognition, both good and bad. It has done this many many times already and it will continue to do so.

It has been proven and accepted by those of a scientific mind that our physical 'reality' is in fact, nothing more than a collection of atoms, vibrating at differing speeds. All you can see, therefore, is not as your eyes perceive it to be. 

Even our eyes lie to us. Our eyes see things upside down. It is our mind that turns the images the 'right way up' so we dont become too confused and dizzy.

Latterly of course, we have the use of 'cosmetic surgery' to make some people appear to be what they are not in 'reality'. I expect to get shot down in flames by many of the female population for this one, but in truth, I can accept the need for cosmetic surgery in justifiable cases (accident, burns etc), not for vanity. Surely it is better to work on becoming accepting, contented, happy even with who and what you are?

Overall, the point is there are many examples of how our lives and the world we live in are not 'reality'. It is down to the individual and their experiences, what reality means to them.

Living in a quiet part of America, watching the fall season slowly creep in, my reality is nowhere near the same as some innocent Iraqi civilian (yes, there are some innocent ones you know), who is afraid to step outside their door for fear of being killed.

To me then, 'reality' is that we are all Spirits sharing this physical life experience, and we are here to learn to remember that we ARE all one, all connected and even as we strive to reach ever greater levels of Spiritual purification, we are journeying back to "God", to the one divine source from which we all come.

Since it would be interesting to know what others perceptions of 'reality' are, I'll start a new thread for that and look forward to reading others answers.

Namaste