If we want to have an ideal, we must first read the stories about the life and work of well-known figures, and admire them sincerely. As our admiration grows gradually, strong ideals will one day appear in our mind.
THE IDEAL OF LIFE
Many people live without any purpose, taking life as it comes. Others have clear purposes but those purposes are mediocre or ordinary, revolving around themselves only. Then there are also some individuals, a minority of society, that nurture lofty goals. They live to serve, live to give, live to make others happy. We call them people with ideals.
Their ideals basically share several common features such as working tirelessly to make the world a better place. But they are different in small details. Some people choose Medicine so they can cure the poor (which also means they accept to be poor doctors). Some select Wild-life Conservation so they can preserve the biodiversity on Earth. Some follow Agriculture to search for new ways to produce more food for the world. Others pick Journalism to praise and spread good words and fight against the bad. Some choose to be monks with the hope that precepts will facilitate charity activities. Some decide to be an official because they found the beauty in their Party’s ideal of sacrificing for others.
No matter whether they are practical or not, people with ideals have the passion to help them study and improve themselves. That ideal will urge them to keep learning and practicing rather than being lazy. That ideal will motivate them to expand their virtues and discourage selfishness. What does not meet that ideal will be rejected.
If our ideals are weak and our bad habits are so strong, our ideals will be killed. For example, there was a patriot whose bad trait was being too fond of beautiful women. He served his country very well at first, but later, he fell for a girl sent by the enemy and thus became a traitor. There was also a man who worked in social services and was in charge of finding jobs for the new graduates. He had a very bad temper. In a small quarrel, because of his temper, he abandoned the system that created many jobs for the youth.
If our ideal is strong enough, it will heal our soul from weaknesses, develop more skills, and make our life meaningful.
If we want to have an ideal, we must first read the stories about the life and work of well-known figures, and admire them sincerely. As our admiration grows gradually, strong ideals will one day appear in our mind.
We must be careful about the blur line between ideal and ambition. Ideal and ambition resemble each other in strong will, big aspiration for doing great work and influencing a large audience. However, ideal comes from altruism, it is about sacrificing ourselves for others’ interests. Meanwhile, ambition is to search for our own glory.
Ideals help our souls to become like the saints, while ambition destroys our souls and turns us evil.
Janna