There are two parallel lines in life that lead towards fulfilment; The ‘Actual’ and the ‘Ideal’. While the actual holds attained/attainable possibilities, the ideal holds expected/unattainable possibilities. Both the actual and the ideal point towards purpose, however, the Ideal appears to have a stronger awareness of what purpose is, and the actual looks up to the ideal for direction towards how to find purpose. There is the possibility of an ‘ideal actualization’ in a situation where two or more possible actualizations are compared. However, there is little or no possibility for the ‘actualization of the ideal’ because the Ideal is like smoke the more we try to define it, it breaks into infinite ideals constantly colliding against each other. 

An example could be seen in religion. While we humans have spent millennia trying to actualize the ideal religion, we have only succeeded in attaining the ‘ideal actualization’ from our constant comparison of our beliefs with those of others. However, we have not actualized the ideal religion as all religions seem to collide at some point in agreement and diverge at other points in disagreement and most times the closer we look at even our own beliefs, we are left with more questions than answers. One might say, “well, I have no religion because I do not believe in a supreme deity” but that in itself is the ‘Human self’ striving to ‘actualize the Ideal’ by comparing their belief with other actualizations, thus arriving in an ‘ideal actualization’ according to their standards of judgement.

I think this concept can be analyzed against career choices, selecting a partner and almost every area of our being. While we all want the ideal we forget that the ideal is defined and secured in a vacuum of imaginative certainty, whereas the Actual is constantly challenged and questioned by natural and nurturing forces. We can only attain the best outcome based on the cards we are dealt however, we cannot achieve the perfect outcome.