I’m looking for straightforward, easily-memorable words meaning “what you strive to be” and “what you struggle not to be (even though it’s a strong temptation)”.
The best I’ve got for the former is “virtue”, which has too strong of moral/religious connotations for my liking (someone might be motivated by ambition, but most people wouldn’t call ambition a moral virtue), and the best I’ve got for the latter is “hamartia” (the flaw that dooms a tragic hero), but that’s four syllables long and not exactly catchy.
A metaphor works just fine (instead of a literal meaning), if you have one, but since these tie in to a game mechanic, I’d like something that people can remember easily (which is why “hamartia” is out).
(The intended use case, btw, is for a sort of personal karma meter where the endpoints potentially shift during play. These are the terms for the endpoints.)
Fulfillment and indulgence
Authenticity and hypocrisy
Jekyll and Hyde
Honor and corruption
Honor and shame
Satisfaction and regret
True Heart and Abandon
Harmony and disquiet
Inner Peace and Troubled Mind/Soul/Heart
Hard to say whether it’d be better to draw from words that are true opposites of one another or not. Also, I find these terms getting more ornate as I go on; knowing what sort of setting this is for would help narrow down the possible tone.
Other ideas:
Idol - Failing
Ideal - Flaw
Strength - Weakness (obviously not in the physical sense (or, probably))