[eclecticEel]

Reality places a hard discipline on all of us, even messiahs.

[dr_lew]

When a person puts a plan of action into effect in order to see whether it will work or not, he is said to be engaging in reality testing. If the test does not work, that is, if the desired object is not discovered or produced, a new plan of action is thought out and tested. This continues until the correct solution (reality) is found and the tension is discharged by a suitable action. In the case of hunger, the suitable action would consist of eating food.

Calvin S. Hall, A Primer of Freudian Psychology