Real Self vs Ideal Self

When we were young; say hardly ten years old, our relatives never failed to ask us one question “what do you want to become in life?” And we being the one with sparkling imaginations, never failed to come up with fancy answers for that question. Be it doctor, musician, astronaut, dancer , actor, painter and what not.

As we grew older, our dreams shifted more towards practically possible options than our mere interest. Later on, in our life we set goals based on the various factors mainly revolving around our expectation of the future. No wonder “where do you see yourself in next five years?” is one of the frequently asked questions in an interview.

Often while making plans for the success we consider only the ideal situation. “In 5 years, I’ll be working as a chief officer, I’d own a car and my own house” that is achievable but requires a hard work and firm determination. Reality is more stressful than the ideal situation of course. However, aiming for achieving an ideal goal for leading an ideal life (the way you imagined it) can be considered success, but not always.

Sometimes in order to achieve that ideal situation one lives a life of struggle without satisfaction. “I should be doing .. I should have done it by now…” always creates a pressure on one‘s shoulders which is sometimes really hard to manage especially if the ideal situation is deviating from the reality. 

Source: www.davidgardner.co

 

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Some days we are supposed to be the “ideal self”, behave in an ideal manner while sometimes we need to be our “real self” instead of being under constant pressure to be an ideal self. We need to enjoy the thrilling ,stimulating ride that life is, while sometimes we have to rise above our selfish perspective and be the light bearer; the ideal inspiration for others.

Perfect balance between the two is important for the poised and calm life. In the struggle between real me vs ideal me sometimes real self dominates the other, vice versa. What we need to understand is both sides are of the same person. When they work hand in hand; they complement each other. Sometimes life wants us to be practical while sometimes it wants us to live up to the expectations. The choice is ours in the end.