An sketch for an ideal life:
We sometimes feel discontent with our life, feeling a sense of 'something is missing', a vacuum. So, the question is what is it that is missing? Given that there was no prior expectation (an image of an ideal life) then the whole notion of missing parts seems unfounded. Thus, there ought to be some mental construct, that has been there for some time or is under development, that seeks its realization in the physical world. Here is one:

An individual with an advance degree- in a field of interest to the protagonist- that makes him of special demand to his society. The protagonist finds his vocation of great social importance, and simultaneously intellectually fulfilling. Consequently, he finds his day to day activities purposeful and passionately looks forward to another day of such rewarding engagement. He is well respected by his fellow human beings and meanwhile he has the luxury of avoiding them from time to time to indulge in his intellectual pursuits. He finds a beautiful girl who shares a great part of his convictions and is equally goal oriented and and purposeful. They respect each other's personal space and plant seeds of shared memories in their common grounds and patiently wait for the tree of their mutual love to flourish and bear fruits. Together they are whole and holy since they live an ideal life and promote an ideal society. They enjoy all that is human and they sublimate all that is all too human.

What is stopping the protagonist of our story to realize his mental image?

I guess we all have our own insecurities; for one person it might be her body image and for another her financial issues and yet for another her lack of formal education. It is interesting that we perceive of insecurity as a feminine attribute and yet it seems to be a universal characteristic of all human beings: I did not get enough love when I was a child, I was never good with math, my nose was big, my body was fat, my family was poor, my friends were ignorant, and you name it. so, one doesn't need to mention that if our peculiar case was in fact very common then it could not qualify as an insecurity. One of the causes of our discriminatory behavior is that we are “comparing creatures”. We learn that certain attributes are good (either through our nature or via nurture) and then we seek those attributes in ourselves and when we don't quite find it we get disappointed. One way of dealing with them is to try to improve upon ourselves. That comes with a great deal of suffering and energy expenditure and life is finite after all. Or alternatively, we can try to make peace with our shortcomings. We also have a sense of justice that tells us to what extent a given person (including ourselves) deserves certain privileges. So, we construct a system of proportions and correspondences and expect certain actions yield certain consequences and certain guys marry certain girls. Then, for the rest of our lives we live within the confines of these philosophical construct and practice our judgments. Occasionally, we see or hear cases that deviate from our expectations and it surprises us, but then we go on. What is wrong with this system?

Hello no-where-land! I am officially your citizen. I am a man of no special wanting. I'm the carrier of no special desire. I'm only a wanderer in your never ending land. The last time I checked I had forgotten what I had to say, what I yearned so long, what I had once sensed so intimately. No-where-land, I'm all yours, you know it right? No-where-land, don't take me wrong! Don't think you found a new lover; I'm just a no-where-man that naturally belongs to a no-where-land. In addition, a no-where-land that is loved by a man is just another beloved-land. I'm sure you don't want that, do you? A beloved-land is a boring land since it essentially belongs to a single man. But, a no-where-land is a projective plane that contains the voids of all beloved-lands. Thus, you are unbounded and uncounted! No-where-land, don't think that I'm afraid of loving you. In fact, tell you a secret I kind of like you and been checking you out! Ha ha ha, I got you going ... A no-where-land with a beloved-land's desires! How do you explain that? Why can't you just be content with being a no-where-land? Oh dear no-where-land, I should confess I'm guilty of hypocrisy myself. Since, I lied to you when I said I was a no-where-man! I've gotta go now. Since, in the world of alpha-men I'm still searching for my where-about. But, thanks for being there for me, my friend no-where-land!