Ideal Idol Worship

So yesterday I wrote about my muddled search for a personal idol and not trusting it to be single fallible person or even a group of famous people I experienced an epiphany, a spiritual realization. 

It’s true I do not have a single role model because what I have had are thousands of role models. Every single person I have met in my life has had their faults but then each and every one of them also had something I could admire, emulate and desire. 

Starting from my Mom’s enormous thirst for knowledge; to my Dad’s sunny optimism and literary bent; to my wife’s uber cool non-sanctimonious nature; to my kids’ infectious curiosity. 

Among my friends I have been encouraged by seeing someone taking control of their diet and body, to someone sacrificing their career for their family, to someone having the courage to rejoin the work force after years of homemaking, to someone leaving a cushy job to follow their dreams. 

I have picked up tips from people tasteful décor, to their knowledge of wine and food, I have acquired gems of philosophy from a barely literate rustic, discovered the ability to step back and laugh from staid old maids, learnt how to maintain my ethics and integrity from a go getting ambitious woman. Found the value of empathy from a boss who realizes you have a life beyond work and from the lunch lady who smiles and relaxes each new comer. Understood 'love thy neighbor' from a neighbor who helps you above and beyond what’s required.

Note I have never been reticent about the qualities I see. I bring it up and mention it constantly, sometimes I have been accused of insincere flattery. People who do not realize I’m only highlighting qualities they themselves should be aware and so what if I embellish it with a few over the board adjectives. Sometime we ourselves are not aware of the heroic qualities we posses or even the rare greatness of character that shines through.

So that’s my unassuming suggestion to anyone like me who does not have a role model. Look around; there are mentors all around, little tidbits you can glean from nearly every one you meet. If you pick up all the disparate things you admire in the varied people you meet you really would/could become that supreme idol worth worshipping.