It is sad that in life, the truth of the world inevitably reshape the perfect ideals that you had always clung to.
Perhaps it is wrong to cling so tightly, but what else remains when you compromise on the fundamentals? Or is what you wish for in your heart of hearts wrong? Are your ideals nothing but naive dreams? or selfish rationalisation?
Maybe in the end it is as simple as not clutching so tightly, even if letting go exposes all your vulnerabilities. All life is suffering afterall, right?
Is the lesson to be found in seeking the strength to let your ideals go and allow life to unravel as it will?
If so, do you even struggle and paddle when the reality is that the river will chart its own course? What if you can see a fork in the river? Do you try to steer? Can you steer?
…and who do you become when you no longer hold to what you believe in?
How do you know if something is a virtuous belief, a character defining behaviour or an irrational clinging?
Understanding life is like grasping at straws…
Ideals don’t have to be compromised. Growing up is realising that we can’t control everything around us all the time, but at least for the things that we can control, we can still live by those ideals that we grew up with. Right?