Humanity
Ideals
quick ideas about ideals. How do ideals and love differ? What is preferable: ideals or comforts? What is the greatest ideal? Which ideals to choose?
EspañolA. Ideals and their types
1. What is an ideal?
An ideal is a goal, an end. An ideal is a good so desired by a person that one orients all of life, or a good part of it, toward it. For example, a soft drink may be a good sometimes greatly desired, but it does not have sufficient standing to be an ideal, and nobody devotes months of their life to obtaining it. On the other hand, founding a soft drink company can already be included among someone's ideals.
2. Is there a difference between loves and ideals?
- It does not matter to confuse loves and ideals, but strictly speaking they are somewhat different:
- A love is a desire; an ideal is what is desired.
- Love is a desire that is always in the interior of whoever loves; an ideal is often something external.
- Love is an eagerness that is already possessed; the ideal is not yet.
- One who loves may desire several small and large goods. One who has an ideal aspires to a great good.
3. Types of ideals
- Depending on the point of view, there are several ways of grouping ideals:
- Ideals are goods, and can be ordered in various ways. For example, material and spiritual ideals; ephemeral and lasting ideals; professional, social, family, sporting, cultural, affective ideals, etc.
- Ideals are desired goods, and can be ordered by the way of desiring them. Thus one speaks of instinctive-ideals and goal-ideals. But this classification belongs more properly to love (emotional love and love-charity), since the way of desiring is more a way of loving.
- These goods are desired for someone, so that ideals can be classified according to the recipient, and thus a simple grouping in three types arises: ideals of self-love, ideals of service and love of others, and ideals of service and love of God.
4. Is it good to have ideals?
Ideals are fitting to give life the animating sense of seeking worthwhile goals. An ideal is a good not yet possessed, but desired. This desire is no small thing: it is a first step on the way. Without aspirations life may be more comfortable, but less attractive. If there are no ideals, it is a sign that there is no love, and a life without love is less happy.
5. Is any ideal good?
There can be as many ideals as there are goods, since any good can be greatly desired by the human heart. However, it is not good to take as an ideal those goods that obstruct the achievement of better goods. For example, leading a comfortable life is a good that places obstacles before many higher goals. Those who aspire to greater goods possess better ideals.
6. Is it not better to forget ideals and comfortably follow the crowd?
If an ideal is worth the effort because of its greatness, noble and generous hearts set out to achieve it even at a cost. Only dead fish are carried along by the current of comfort.
7. And if the ideal is not achieved?
Making an ideal a reality requires a more or less lengthy constant effort. If it is not reached, at least it was attempted and that effort will have expanded the generosity of the heart.
B. The greatest of ideals
1. Which ideals are of greater standing?
Those who direct their steps toward higher goods possess the greatest ideals. The best goods are the greatest ideals.
- Selfish ideals that only satisfy tastes or whims diminish the heart and do not deserve to be called ideals.
- Among the goals of love for oneself and others, those that contribute to goods of the soul (one's own or another's) are better.
- The highest-standing ideals refer to God. For example, it is a joyful dignity to contribute to the service and glory of the Creator.
2. What is the greatest possible ideal?
The greatest ideal is the greatest good. One possesses the greatest ideal who desires the greatest possible good. Therefore the greatest ideal is God, and whoever seeks the Lord possesses the best of ideals. More precisely, the goal is not to seek Him but to find Him, to grasp Him, to unite oneself to Him. The goal is God Himself.
3. Other ways of expressing the greatest ideal
- God is the greatest of goods and therefore the greatest ideal, the ideal that calls to be desired above all things. But there are several ways of expressing this same ideal. For example:
- To imitate God; to unite oneself to the Lord; heaven.- The ideal remains God, only now what is reached upon arriving at Him is expressed.
- To know and love the Lord.- This is the way of uniting oneself to a spiritual being. The ideal remains God.
- To serve the Lord, to give Him glory.- This is the way of loving Him.
- Holiness.- Equivalent to imitating God, uniting oneself to the Lord, loving God, etc.
4. Other points of view
- The greatest ideal changes formulation and becomes clearer if we attend to the recipient of the desired good:
- In seeking the greatest good for oneself, the greatest ideal is God as we have just said.
- The greatest ideal of one who seeks good for others is the apostolate, where one strives to bring others closer to the Lord.
- The greatest ideal of one who seeks good for God is to give Him glory.
In short, the greatest of ideals is to give glory to God by growing in holiness and carrying out an abundant apostolic work.
5. Can one who does not love God have ideals?
The atheist can and should have ideals, but runs a greater danger of becoming selfish, seeking only comfort, success, or various pleasures without any orientation. For example, service to others can be done with the intention of applauding oneself or obtaining recognition; on the other hand, for one who loves the Lord it is simpler to direct those praises to His glory. Love and service to God is liberating from slavery to one's own ego.
6. Examples of ideals useful for atheists?
The desire to acquire qualities is always good, also for atheists, since it is better to collect virtues than defects. In the end, either a quality or the corresponding vice is reached. Either one is kind, hardworking, and helpful, or one is not. And given the choice, let us choose the good.
C. Which ideals to choose?
1. Possibilities?
When thinking about goals for one's own life, three paths are available:
- Reject any project, in order to preserve a comfortable life.
- Be content with reduced plans that demand little effort.
- Aspire to elevated goals.
2. Among these possibilities, which to choose?
On one side, comfort and mediocre conformism diminish the heart and reduce its capacity for love and happiness. On the other side, great goals seem costly... Probably the best is to combine all three paths: Possess some worthwhile ideal that provides enthusiasm and drive, and add modest goals for each day. Besides, there will be aspects that are left untouched, since it would be madness to try everything at once.
3. An example?
For example, a person may have as the great ideal of their life the service of God and neighbor. This great goal can be accompanied by the modest purpose of keeping a schedule that includes time for the Lord and for others. And at the same time, one sets aside the attempt to learn Japanese, since this ideal can wait for now.
4. Is it a good idea to have many goals?
It is a good idea to have some projects, but it is not possible to try all of them at once due to scarcity of time and because some goals are incompatible. For example, the decision to study facilitates a professional aspiration while at the same time making it harder to be the king of entertainment.
5. Some advice on which ideals to choose?
The answer must be individual, but some advice can be given:
- Be alert to mediocrity, and do not limit oneself.
- We are not cows. We are men, that is, material and spiritual beings. We need to have high ideals that lift our soul from the dust of the road. Human dignity needs spiritual plans and elevated goals.
6. Examples of bovine ideals?
Eating, drinking, and being comfortable.
7. How to exercise the search for goals?
Ideals are acquired to the extent that goods are known and seen as fitting. To this end, the following may help:
- Improving one's own formation in valuable topics. For example, attending talks that speak of interesting and attractive subjects, capable of inspiring enthusiasm.
- Reflection on the projects one has, or on the qualities one wishes to acquire.
8. How to encourage others to have ideals?
Some examples of motivations:
- Recounting or inviting others to read heroic and exemplary lives.
- Applauding those who set themselves goals, even modest ones.
- Proposing projects.
- Avoiding criticism of those who do something well, so as not to dampen their aspirations.