Idealist VS Realist

Lets talk about something a little heavy this time round.. Idealist, or realist, which defines you more? Probably no one can say for sure one is an idealist, or a realist, since decisions are made based on conditions and consequences... but then one can say dominantly one is either, and as such help shed some light into one's own life and probably understood why things happen to one the way they did...

Idealist practice envisioning things in an ideal form, or in simpler term aiming for perfection.

Realist see things in literal truth and pragmatism, or more grounded on reality (hence the name).

Having said the definition, it becomes clear that idealist and realist contradict each other. However, both seem to deny the basic property of human... To be human is to be flawed, in which idealism cannot apply... However to accept life and reality literally only results in average, which deny a human of his potential...

Another significant contradiction...

To be an idealist is to reach for the stars. However, idealist often get lost in their dreams, and as a result can get an out-of-touch aura about them..

To be a realist is to be ready to accept reality... Much better prepared for good or bad compared to an idealist. However, a realist often focused too much on the reality and aim much lower, or only aims something that can be reached with assurance.. Realist often miss out the few times that human does reach excellence...

So, up to this point, you should have a basic idea which you are dominant at.. If not, keep reading... In the end, I'll tell you which am I...

Is the glass half empty, or half full?

This is a common question in determining one's perception, as an optimist or a pessimist.. We can classify these two into branches of idealist and realist... Optimist are idealist, and pessimist are realist.. classifying onself does not mean reasing or lowering the humanity of oneself.. We cannot say that idealist is better than realist, nor the other way around..

If you see the glass as half empty, you are commenting on the fact that it is missing half of it's contents.. You see it as it is, and accept that the half empty cannot be gained back.. (assuming the contents cannot be changed).. You accept that the content is imperfect, and that you may not be able to do anything about it..

If you see the glass as half full, you are thinking ideally that the glass is only at half it it's capacity... Again, assuming the contents cannot be changed, you still hold on to the idea that there is something that you can do to make the content of the glass full.. You are ignoring the reality, and thinking ideally if you have to do something with the half full content of the glass, you will have an ideal thought of how to use it..

I am an idealist.. I see the glass as half full.. I am optimistic about life, and refuse to accept reality literally.. To me, there is always something more to life than what is seen, and more to feel, more to touch, more to love, and more to do.. but at the same time, being aged (not old, mind you..) I am also aware of the imperfect world and that my ideals do not apply to it.. I am aware of the failures, hurt, despair and reality.. However I refuse to let it bother me, as I believe in the human potential... As long as I can still breathe, I will live.. I will see, and I will touch, I will feel, I will love, and I will do, despite all the failures, despite all the hurt, despite all despair, and despite reality....

How bout you?