Heroes

It is definitely a sad day for Buckeyes in the state of Ohio. What many believe to be an iconic figure has shown cracks in the foundation. The football coach for the university has been caught lying and covering up a major violation in the program. The fault lies directly on the coach. It was his "mistake".

What we as a people or culture consistently fail to realize is the pressure others face to succeed, in this case win. People in the national perspective face a different world than the rest of us. It seems grand and glorious to the common folk. But, it comes with a pressure all its own. What we see are only snippets on the news or in print of what they face. What I fail to understand is why we continually place these persons, no matter who they are, on a pedestal so high they blot out all light from the sun.

I have noted in other posts, I have no heroes in the culture or celebrity. My only heroes have been my parents. Why? The answer to that is easy. I lived with them. I know all their blessings and all their warts. Through it all, they loved us unconditionally and strove to do the best they could for us as children. Others who live in a far-off world have no basis in our reality. We routinely see only the good they do as it is edited or published by others. If or when something bad happens, it is often blown our of proportion or seems so opposite their public perception it completely rocks our world.

So, how do we work with our children or others to show them how things should be done? The easiest answer I can offer is to hold up the actions of another, but not the person. These are the actions one should try to emulate. Everyone has flaws. Everyone is subject to failure and misjudgment somewhere along the line. No one is perfect.

There is nothing wrong with having heroes, just remember, unless they are on the pages of a comic book, no one is "super", we all have our own warts. Pick the actions, not the person.