Where Have All the Heroes Gone?

People seem to have a need for role models and heroes.  Too often our heroes disappoint us and we wonder why.  The “why” is that they are human beings and as human beings they are subject to the weaknesses and frailties of the human spirit that is part of all of us.  No one is perfect and we all make mistakes and exercise poor judgment as we live our lives. 

Charles Barkley was right to some degree that when he stated he was “not a role model”. People have a tendency to confuse celebrityism with heroism. Celebrities and athletes can let you down because they are human beings with all of the warts we all carry around.  Need we look further than the tragic story of O.J. Simpson. We are emphasizing superficial values, not basic moral and intellectual virtues.

Role models should first and foremost come from your family, your teachers and/or other people who made a difference in your life.  These are the people that can affect your life, its paths and its ultimate outcome.  They helped you define who you are.  But the American family and our the educational system are in trouble.  Is it any wonder that our moral character is in a state confusion and decline?

Dr. George Sheehan in his book, On Running, made an observation about heroes.  It is something we might all want to consider.

"Where have all the heroes gone?  They've gone with the simplicities and the pieties and the easy answers of another era.  Our lack of heroes is an indication of the maturity of our age, a realization that the every man has come into his own and has the capability of making a success out of his life.  Success rests with having the courage and the endurance and, above all, the will to become the person you are, however peculiar that may be.

Then you will be able to say, I have found my hero and he is me."

Have a nice day.

Sam