We convince by our presence. –Walt Whitman
Few are guilty, but all are responsible. –Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
Good morning Gentle Reader. Last week as I was reflecting upon a question I was holding the words, role-model emerged into my consciousness. Each day since then I held these words and yesterday began to put finger to key. This morning I will share with you some of what has, thus far, emerged for me. I also invite you to take some time and reflect upon the concept of ‘role-model’ and to identify some of your own responses as you hold the concept of ‘role-model’. I will also be providing some ‘guiding questions’ this morning that might aid you in your reflective-search.
What is a Role-Model? Consider that a role-model points the way, mainly by his/her very presence. When does a person become a role-model? Consider that there is a critical moment – or a moment that with hindsight we realize was, indeed, a critical moment – when our very being is impacted for good or for ill. Consider then that there are positive life-enhancing role-models and (remember, Gentle Reader, there is always an ‘AND’) there are negative life-limiting or life-hindering role-models.
A person might or might not know that he or she is a role-model (or that he/she has been a role-model). Only with hindsight was I able to understand the number of folks that were role-models for me. As I became more aware of the idea of ‘role-model’ I began to become more open to identifying a role-model in ‘now-time.’ I have come to believe that a ‘Mentor’ is, among other things, a role-model. I have also come to believe that not all ‘Role-Models’ are ‘Mentors’ (I am thinking now, primarily, of the ‘negative role-models’ in my life).
So, Gentle Reader, here are some guiding questions that might help you discern, identify and ‘name’ the two types of role-models that have had an impact on you – and the impact was so powerful that it helped frame the person you are today.
Who was a person that was a role-model for you such that you are the person you are today because of that person?
Who were two or three ‘positive role-models’ for you and in what ways did each of them impact your very being?
Who were two or three ‘negative role-models’ for you and in what ways did each of them impact your very being?
Who was a role-model who, when you were a child, affirmed you as a person of ‘inherent worth’?
Who was a role-model who, when you were a child, judged you as being ‘inadequate’ and you integrated that judgment into your identity? Were you able to discard that judgment later on in your life or do you still carry that judgment in your identity?
Well, those are enough questions for today. I also invite you, Gentle Reader, to add some of your own to my list. Oh, one more question:
When did you consciously thank one or more of the ‘positive role-models’ that have impacted you so that you are the person you are today? If you have not thanked them how might you thank them today?
We are a model for others. –Pericles
Searcher-Seeker 