The world is a place of endless possibilities and an arena for everyone to achieve their best self. Yet not everyone would agree with this statement. People’s perceptions of the world differ not for any other reason, but because everyone models their worldview according to their own self-assessment.

The examples are obvious – the brave see the world as a battlefield, the cowardly as a jungle filled with dangers, the envious as a place full of injustices, the self-sacrificing as a place in need of saving, and so on.

The insecure person naturally sees the world as scary and hostile. He knows that everything in life requires a struggle and his chances of emerging victorious are slim, so he logically perceives the world as limited and poor in possibilities. On the other hand, such a person also believes that he himself deserves nothing. Therefore, in this sense, he lacks nothing as well. If you don’t believe that things like love, freedom, adventure, and well-being exist and you are entitled to them, then you will never regret not having them either. Ultimately, the belief that the world is bad and unfair becomes the best excuse to never want to better yourself.

The confident person believes that everything most wonderful is his birthright, and therefore he is unconditionally convinced that the world can provide him with whatever he wants. The free, loving, happy man does not wait for someone to give him freedom, love and happiness; he naturally finds them in his every breath and every moment of the day. The world stands open before him with its possibilities just waiting to be found. Where others see emptiness and doom, he sees an opportunity for something new and better to emerge. The confident person is secure in his world as his home and wants to discover more and more of the hidden treasures before our eyes.

For proponents of objectivism, we must ask ourselves then what the world is objectively. Perhaps the most accurate answer would be – the world is what you make it. But beyond that, objectively, the world is a place of infinite possibilities and an arena for everyone to achieve their best selves. As long as there are people to prove it, it stands to reason that those opportunities are there for everyone.