Yesterday, Brad Ruggles posted a blog called The Death of Idealism. I immediately sent the link to Lorana with a few thoughts. We continued the conversation shortly over email.
See, in our relationship, I’m the Idealist and she is the Realist. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not 100% that way. She does have dreams and I do see some things in the harsh, cold light of truth.
But, overall, those are the roles that we seem to fill. I am heart and she is wisdom.
I dream big stuff and just plan on it all working out somehow. She looks at the data and our circumstances and sees that it may not be possible as things are right then.
At times, I get down on myself a little for being this way. I want to have my feet firmly planted on the ground and wade through life. I want to be the planner and leader that makes it all work out.
We believe that you either need both types to make a marriage work, or each person needs a decent mixture of idealism and practicality.
As a Christian and an idealist, it would be far too easy for me to dream and then say that my faith in God will make up the gap between that dream and reality. It just doesn’t happen that way, though. Sometimes God wants us to put feet to our prayers. He could do it all for us, but then what would be the point?
So, is there a point to this post? Probably not to anyone but Lorana and me. We’re on a journey and trying to find the best way to get to where we are going. We grow daily when we pay attention and slide backwards when we don’t.
It’s life, right?
Glad my post got you thinking and sparked some conversation. That’s always the greatest complement for a writer.
If you come to any interesting conclusions (or just raise more intriguing questions) feel free to stop back by and share them in the comments.
By: Brad Ruggles on August 1, 2009
at 9:01 am