What is an ideal?
When you think of an ideal, what is it? If I had to guess it would be something religious, as most everyone's version of an ideal is religious. This would make sense if you are to truly think about it; all religions really are, are ideals.
Ideals consist of something beyond one's self. According to Google's dictionary, it is something "existing only in the imagination; desirable or perfect but not likely to become a reality." More so though, this definition doesn't mention religion at all, and that's a good thing. You can have an ideal independent of religion but you cannot have a religion independent of an ideal. Moreover, you cannot have anything independent of an ideal.
Ideals are often thought to be a rarity. Because so often you see corruption, or greed, or the pesky humanity that manages to sink its teeth into every piece of life that it can find. However, it's not all bad. There is more to an ideal than meets the eye. Ideals enable us to sort of smack the hand that tries to reach into the cookie jar. Although since it is usually your own hand reaching for those cookies, people often skew their ideals, and their beliefs, in order to condone their actions without striving for anything greater than themselves. For the sake of this article, we'll call this habit -- the skewing of ideals -- a convenience. With these conveniences, we often seek to find nothing more than what we are. Realistically, if you can content yourself with who you are in and of yourself, without considering what potential you have as an individual, then you are free to do whatever your heart desires (even if it results in you falling backwards).
As I said, ideals are almost like the metaphorical mother that smacks your hand, when you reach for more than what is appropriate in relation to your ideal. Or more than what you know is right for you. But without an ideal, how are you to know when you are doing something wrong? The answer is quite obvious at that point -- you won't.
Without an Ideal
People seem to assume that without an ideal all will align itself naturally. This sort of naiveté seems to be responsible for much of the aimlessness that is ubiquitous in life.
There are quite a few analogies I've grown fond of over the cultivation of these ideas. One of them being the difference between being in a field, versus being on a path.
On a path, you know which way is towards your destination and which way is not, i.e. towards your goal and away from it. Being on a path assumes you have a destination since you wouldn't be on a path without one. Comparatively, if you're in a field, all you're left to do is wander aimlessly or stagnate -- neither option being a meaningful one. So with an ideal, a destination, you're left with a path towards it, and a path away from it. This helps to tie earlier into the fact that it's almost like a mother, showing you which way is good, and which way is bad. But if you are left in the field, all you get to do is wander without direction or give up and stay exactly as you are.
For the sake of iteration, another more likely relatable comparison is that of a tunnel, as I'm sure most of you are familiar with. In a tunnel with an end, with a goal, you have a light.
But in a tunnel in which there is no light, how are you to know whether there is even an end, whether there is a goal even worth striving to attain? The truth is, if you're in a tunnel with no light at the end, you're probably in a cave.
This is the fundamental misunderstanding I believe people have when it comes to goals. People often seem to think they don't need any, or that there's no rush in finding one. But to think the alternative is to wander aimlessly with no sense of direction, there should be a bit more of a fire beneath your feet to have one. You're going to suffer regardless, the job you have now is to find meaning in it. As Nietzsche notably remarked, "Life is suffering." But more importantly, he said "He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how."
The question then in regards to ideals, is, how are you to have a why if your existence is spent tolerating various hows? In other words, you won't find a meaning in life, if you simply let life happen to you without purpose.
It's important to consider the words of Carl Jung, in comparison to this; "The world will ask you who you are, and if you don't know, the world will tell you." I don't think this is an opposing statement, on the contrary, I believe it aligns harmoniously. If you do not know, the world will tell you, but that does not mean who you become is what you want, it simply means that the world will tell you. And as I'm sure most of you are aware, the world is not the most merciful place, nor the most benign. So whoever the world tells you you are, you must compare to who you want to be, and what your ideals are.
The Importance of Maintaining Ideals
"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." I believe most people would like to fantasize about themselves as the heros in movies, or perhaps as a savior of a person hurt on the road side, or even as the Good Samaritan. I'd like to think most people would step up in the case of someone being hurt, even at a consequence to themselves. But it is important to break this down individualistically.
If you wish to save someone, who is in pain, or is starving, or perhaps just wounded. How will you do that, realistically? The answer is, of course, it depends. Imagine again a scenario where someone needs your help, and it is up to you to save them. But you're stranded in the middle of nowhere. It is impossible to save someone if you do not have direction. This is especially relatable in the position of a doctor. You cannot save someone having a heart attack, if you don't know CPR, but more relevantly -- you cannot save someone if you don't even realize the person is having a heart attack.
It is imperative that you cultivate your own ability to see goals, to see ideals, to see the morality that substrates existence, otherwise you cannot lead someone forward. Otherwise you are one blind person, leading another. You cannot assist in the suffering of one man dying of cardiac arrest, if you can't even identify the problem to begin with. You cannot know, what you do not know. That is why ideals are such a fundamental part of reality that people coexist with, without even giving them credibility to begin with.
Ideals are the light at the end of the tunnel that provides illumination to the world. A light provides direction and meaning to your movement. Ideals are the prerequisite to a meaningful life, regardless of whether you acknowledge them or not.