Even if you're not a hero, you can still be heroic........

And so, falls another feather.........

"He/she is so caring, so compassionate, so kind, he/she is an angel."

Angel? "Angels don't exist, they're just a human invention" some will say.

Others may say that they are "real", that they are spiritual messengers. (Often envisaged as beings with wings of feathers)

And then some of us may say that the term "angel" refers to a person of exemplary conduct and virtue. 

Many of us have had heroes/heroines and or ideal human beings, that we looked up to when we were children. These heroes/heroines were flawless, always looking out for others, saving the day, able to pull off the most daring and amazing feats, self-sacrificing and often somehow able to do the humanly impossible. Some heroes/heroines that springs to mind: Wonder woman, Bat Girl, Jean Grey, Super Girl, Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Ironman, etc.etc. Granted, these are all comic figures, but for many of us, when we were children, the line between what's possible and impossible, was not certain and clear-cut. In some societies in which certain belief systems play a big part, angels are often viewed quite similar to heroes; they protect us, guide us, and occasionally perform feats of a "miraculous" nature.

 For the purpose of this post, rather than using the words heroes/heroines and angels, I will use the word role-models instead, as in; someone who we admire and look up to.

The role-model can be a teacher, a coach, a musician, a parent, a friend, a world leader, an author, a movie director, sports person, an actor, etc.etc....but regardless of what it is the role-model does that we admire, we often tend to pay more attention to their "good" bits and gloss over the "not-so-good" bits.

"Yeah, I know he/she was caught doing........xxx.....but you have to balance that against all the good things he/she has done..." "I know that mass media presents him/her as a shallow and self-centred person, but that's not who he/she really is...." On the other hand, once a role-model does something that can't be glossed over, we are often quick to "de-feather" them: A priest highly regarded in the community is found to be interfering with children...instantly his "angel" (role-model)status is obliterated....he is instantly "de-feathered". A spokesperson for a world known charity organisation is caught embezzling money......instant "de-feathering". A much loved and admired sports star promoting a healthy life-style is found un-conscious in an ally, passed out from an overdose of heroin...instant "de-feathering".

Mass media is full of information on role-models of all sorts "falling" from their status of being highly respected and admired to becoming mere flawed human beings like the rest of us.

However, is it perhaps possible that although flawed, a person can still perform a heroic deed, be a role-model for compassion, patience and kindness? Two burglars break into a home and steals a laptop. On the laptop they discover nearly a hundred illegal images of minors. The burglars decide to go to the police, confess their theft and hand over the laptop. The police then discovers that the owner of the laptop is a serious offender. Hells Angels, a notorious biker gang, has been involved with helping needy children for over 16 years, including a yearly toy drive.

Is it possible that perhaps even a hero can have "a bad day" and be impatient, intolerant and plain ol' grumpy, just as a less than perfect, flawed human being can have a "good day" and perform a heroic deed, have the patience of an "angel", and the tolerance of "saint"?

I believe it is, although perhaps there lies within many of us the occasional thought of engaging in a little schadenfreude(pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune): "Look, there goes another feather....told you he/she was no angel/role-model."

Some research has shown that when people are asked if they have any personal heroes and who they are, a common answer is to name their parents/parent/caretakers, ....although... through childhood to adulthood this often fluctuates between them losing "feathers" ("what!!!? you're human?) and us trying to stick them back on ("I was totally impossible through my teenage years, your patience with me was amazing").

There are many human beings who are wonderful role-models, who inspire us, encourage us, and who are people of exemplary conduct and virtue, but the question we may have to ask ourselves is: what kind of human beings do we aspire to be............     
   
"You don't have to be a hero to act heroically,
you don't have to be a saint to care for others,
you don't have to be an angel
to live a life of exemplary conduct  and virtue,
 you just need to be the best human being you can be."
(Citizen Z)