reality checks
Sanity-testing your assumptions
Reality checks are moments of confronting actual circumstances rather than wishful thinking or denial.
Someone gives you a reality check when they point out facts you've been avoiding: Her accountant gave her a reality check about the business's finances.
You can also give yourself one: I needed a reality check before quitting my job.
The phrase implies a corrective, sometimes harsh assessment that dispels illusions.
- letdownsFailures to satisfy
- awakeningReturn to consciousness
- appraisalEstimation of worth
- cognitionMental knowledge acquisition
- lucidityClearness of mind
insight · self-awareness · wake-up call · subconscious mind · perception · epiphany · clarification · enlightenment · dream interpretation · false awakenings · Jungian psychology · moment of clarity · moment of truth · symbolic dreams · introspection · face facts · come to terms · understanding
- lucid dreaminglucid dreaming, lucid dreams, dream journal, dream recall, dream diary
- inner explorationself-discovery, introspection, self-reflection, self-awareness, inner journey
reality checkswishful thinking
Belief shaped by desire
self-deception · denial · fantasies · illusions · pipe dreams
reality checkssweet nothings
Affectionate but meaningless utterances
blissful ignorance · sugar-coating · ego stroking · flattery · platitudes
reality checksnaivety
Innocent lack of experience
gullibility · credulity · overconfidence · hubris · complacency
reality, check, real, realism, realist, realistic, realistically, unrealistic, realization