I guess we all have heroes, people who we look up to as a model that we can aspire to.
They come in a range of forms.
They might be a family member - a sibling who always seems to do things right, a mom or dad who is there to make things right when you are a child, an uncle who made a break and shows up in a sports car when the rest of the world is struggling to pay the bills.
They might be a movie or TV star who looks or acts in a particular way. We often see these people picked out as role models for the young.
They might be someone who does something especially well - I have had several guitar heroes, for example!
But sooner or later, most of our heroes seem to let it slip. Family members turn out to me mere humans after all, movie stars turn into junkies, guitarists turn into egotistical jerks.
But whose fault is that? Surely, being a hero is a tough job, and sooner or later you are going to drop the ball (especially if you are a Quarterback!) Can you really blame a hero when he stops being one, or takes the job too seriously?
Is it our fault? Maybe we just reach a stage where this particular hero is not needed and we see them for what they are - mere humans!
So is it good to put these people on pedestals in the first place? Should we look at them and think "I want to be like that"? Or should we look for our own path in life and see where it takes us? Many people feel that the song "My Way" is a good epitaph to their lives, but how many of us really do it their own way? Very few, I suspect. Most of us follow in the footsteps of others, maybe even standing on their shoulders as they go a little further than their predecessors, but few actually cut their own path through the jungle of life.
But I guess this is as it should be.
For me, old heroes have faded and I don't seem to have many new ones turning up. Maybe it is time that I sharpened the machete and looked at the jungle a bit more closely?
12 comments:
We could be heroes, just for one day...
wigsf - I resisted the urge to link to a video of that...
i'm not sure if you've seen the news, but there is a group of caped crusaders protecting the streets of Seattle as of late. interesting that not 1 hour later i read your post about heroes...
i hesitate to call anyone my hero, but rather refer to them as someone who has inspired me. inevetibaly everyone missteps and falls off the pedestal, and sometimes how people handle that misstep is what truly inspires me or not. not that my comment has any point, just felt like sharin'.
hope you are having a good new year, Spartan RC:)
Kenady - Having a great New Year so far, thanks! And I found your comments very interesting - you are right about the missteps! Caped Crusaders in Seattle, eh? Going to check them out!
....we are our own hero in our head :P
Not really a superhero fan, but i do enjoy watching action hero dodging bullets in the movies. Used to like Batman a lot, but as you said, he disappointed me later.
Sometimes I think good people are a kind of heroes too. That's mostly because I am a baddie :)
Shadowthorne - Don't you think that being your own hero is dangerous? So who do baddies look up to? Who is the ultimate bad guy?
Hero's only remain so if viewed from a deep distance! They could pull that off in the past, but today our media and our appetite sucks every last grimy detail about them out into the light - whicvh tends to spoil the illusion! We are all human, some have more admirable traits than others, but none of us are perfect.
There is a way to have heroes, people to admire and emulate, but not put on a pedestal. Not worship. Respecting people for their good deeds and their talents gives us something to appreciate and in some instances, to aim for. I like being who I am so much and I appreciate the hard work it took to become the person I am, but there are people I look up to for various reasons and feel blessed to know about them. You did a good job writing a post to get people thinking about something that is worth thinking about.
This is something I haven't ever really considered, but now that you mention it, I can't think of anyone that I see as a hero. Maybe it's age. Maybe it's the fact that we've lost faith in one another. There are people I admire, no one who I would give hero status.
I agree with wigsf3, in fact that is what popped into my mind when i read your title....I'm my own hero!!! If just for one day!!!
We've all had heroes when we were young. Somehow we either stopped needing them or believing them. Sometimes we idolize our heroes and put them up on a pedestal so high that they are destined to fall.
It's not that I stopped believing in heroes, but mine have changed as I got older (but not wiser). Now, I look up to the men & women who serve in defense of our freedoms. Not just the miliary, but policemen, firemen, emergency workers who toil to keep us safe. Sharpen the machete and look deeper in the jungle. You might find some unlikely heroes amidst the copse.
Never really had a hero. Hmmm . . . now you've got me thinking. There's never been one person in my earthly life that I would say embodies all the characteristics that I admire.
Back when I was playing tennis, I did look up to Monica Seles and how she rebounded from her injury and I admired her coming to the States and struggling to become a success. But today, now that I'm in a different place, I admire a lot of my fellow moms out there. I'd say for right now, they are my 'heroes'
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