Saturday, December 5, 2009

WHO are our REAL HEROES!

With so much of todays media and what appears to be an insatiable public curiousity as to celebrities, sports figures and politicians it's no wonder we have a generation of young people who are witnessing the failures and events in the lives of what they otherwise would call heroes or role models. I wonder how many
kids and young adults feel in regard to the latest and quite possibly the most well known role model they've seen or known in their young lives, Tiger Woods.

Because of this I strongly feel we need to help our kids in how they can come to learn/know who the real heroes are. Many of them are their Fathers, Mothers, relatives, friends of their parents, neighbors. These are the people in their lives they may see everyday and not realize or know how heroic they are.

The real heroes I've ever known(believe me I've been around a long time too) aren't the celebrities, sports stars, politicans or those in the limelight of public view. Those are almost as manufactured as a robot in a lot of cases by those they sold themselves to for stardom, fame, money, power or position. There are some exceptions, of course.

The heroes are the firefighters, policemen/women and military men/women who put their lives on the line to protect and serve our country, citizens and the freedoms we value and hold dear as Americans. They don't do it for the money or fame, they do it because it's their job, duty, honor, oath, purpose and commitment. The real courage I have witnessed, seen and known are their actions in an almost spontaneous, instantaneous manner without any consideration or thought for their own life or personal safety. These people are far more often than not unheralded as headlines but never to those whose lives they touched or saved. They can be and are neighbors, friends, relatives and as humble as they are secure within themselves. They don't necessarily talk about it nor feel any need or desire to share it. They just did it and would do it again even after the realization hit them that it was scary!! These people are our heroes and God blessed them and each and every life they ever touched. Are they perfect, NO. Are they human, YES and they know the fragility of life and what it means to live.

So the next time you have to explain to a child or young adult why one of their idols/role models didn't or wasn't living in a manner consistent with their feelings for putting them on a pedestal tell them about the real heroes. In a lot of cases they are probably as close as your neighbors or even YOU, their parent.

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