Throughout our lives, we have heard a number of different expressions or sayings, from “treat others the way that you want to be treated,” to “if you make that face it will freeze like that.” However, one that stuck with me is this simple saying: never meet your heroes.
As we grow up, we often look around at our elders and peers as role models on how to act and behave in the world around us. We look to our parents to teach us manners and how to treat others, our friends to learn how to interact with others and members in our community to learn how others live.
However, there are also people who, although we never have met them, inspire us with their actions and words. Scientists and inventors who inspire children to get invested in science. Actors and musicians whose craft sparks their fans’ creativity. Activities that influence the activists of tomorrow.
Yet, as much as we idolize these people, a part of us is afraid of meeting them, for fear that the image we have built up in our head will be shattered by the reality of who they really are.
We are afraid to tear down that pedestal that we have crafted for our heroes, to be disappointed.
Yet why should we hold our idols to a standard that we will never achieve?
Humans are flawed by nature. We are capable of both good and evil and, unlike other species on this planet, are aware of our morality. We end up causing more problems than we solve and make numerous mistakes throughout our lives.
We desire perfection, to have a standard of greatness to strive for that we will never achieve.
As such, we often attribute those standards to our heroes. We view them as superior to us, as gods amongst humans, who are above the flaws and sins that define humanity.
The danger of this mindset is that we do not truly know these people, and are placing our faith and devotion in an idol of our own creation, a shadow of the real person, a false god of our own design.
We delude ourselves with these images that when we are faced with the reality that our idols are flawed, sinful humans like the rest of us, we feel ‘betrayed’.
However, I believe that the fact that our role models are flawed should be an inspiring thought.
To quote my favorite movie franchise, “The Greatest Teacher, failure is.” While we can admire a person’s achievements, we can also acknowledge and learn from their mistakes and flaws.
Parents often look at their own mistakes and flaws from their youth to teach their children not to repeat them. Inventors often look at their failures and the failures of their peers and focus on how they can correct their mistakes. Even our children’s tales on morality often have a character make mistakes and learn from them.
Another benefit of knocking your idols off of their pedestal is that it forces you to see them for who they truly are.
By acknowledging their flaws, we are forced to view them as human beings that are no greater than us.
That thought fills me with hope. It makes me realize that someone with my struggles and flaws, my mistakes and demons, has the potential to accomplish greatness.
To err is to be human. And we should appreciate that our heroes are flawed humans. By peeling back the facade, we can open our minds to a greater understanding of who our idols truly are and learn to appreciate them in a more complete image, warts and all.
