ROLE MODELS! ARE THEY STILL NECESSARY?

    People have always looked up to people to be what they actually want to be. The culture of looking up to inspirational personalities as a guideline for our future success has walked millions of miles within the lanes of the historical time frame. Today, the influence of the media is playing a vital role on the choices we consider in choosing our role models. We sometimes find ourselves being carried away by mere attributes rather than personality qualities of those we refer to as our role models. Yes, top on our lists are pop stars, athletes and Hollywood stars, while the real people inspiring us, energizing our personalities and telling us through their actions and words what it takes to dream and live our dreams find themselves unnoticed. We have to be careful with our choices; we have to draw a perfect line between what can be emulated and what is inspiring. The person we choose must be someone worthy of imitation.

   Many of us find it difficult to clearly separate celebrities from role models, fantasies from realities and even what is from what ought to be. Let’s take for instance Tiger Woods, whose marital infidelity has been at the of top media cover over the past months. This is a man with the memorable ‘swoosh shot’ in the 2005 Masters, one of the most successful golfers with numerous championships, but we fail to understand that Tiger Woods is just a professional golfer and not a god, though with a dominance in his craft. Thus, looking up to Tiger Woods as a role model simply because of his fame will rather go a long way to let us down, when he fails to maintain standards worthy of a role model. This is how the 200 young people taking part in Forest Park Golf Course in Baltimore, Maryland felt when they learnt about Tiger’s transgressions. In fact, Tiger Woods himself said it all: “I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves”. What values is he referring to? Certainly those values we expect from a role model, not a professional golfer.

ARE THEY STILL NECESSARY?

Some people see nothing good looking up to people as role models in this era of media revolution. Their argument rests on the negative aspects manifested in the personalities of today’s celebrities, their love for drugs, alcohol and marital infidelity. Despite these lost of values, role models are still necessary, especially for young people. Those we see as our role models may increase our self esteem, and help us to build morals and positive values by teaching us how to set attainable goals. Just by looking up to others, our own dreams may become a little more real. In this view point, the Roman emperor and great philosopher Marcus Aurelius puts it nicely in a very unique way as follows

                         “Because your own strength is unequal to the task, do not assume that it is beyond the powers of man; but if anything is within the powers of man, believe that it is within your own compass also”

        Friends, let’s stop living our lives like we are living on an island. Every aspect of our environment can actually contribute to making us who we really want to be. Role models must not certainly be celebrities or popular personalities. Even your father, teacher or classmate can be your role model. Make use of your potential and take advantage of those of others to face challenges and amaze your mates. You can always be who you want to be, period!

          Edwin N Ngome