Friday, October 2, 2009

Choose heroes carefully


"A man known by the company he keeps" goes an old saying. People ascribe our character with the character of our friends. If our friends love social work, we are bracketed as social workers. If we keep the company of people who love to fight, people presume us to be short tempered and always ready for a fight. It is also true that we get influenced by the behaviour and thinking of our friends.

Similarly, the people whom we adore and consider as heroes also reflect our sense of values and aspirations. Think about this for a little while and then think of your heroes. Are they the kind of people who lived ideal lives and a life based on ideals? Are they known for their high moral standards?

It is important that we choose our heroes carefully. Their lives must impress us with its high standards. Do not choose people who achieve success unless it was based on value pillars like honesty and integrity. Do not choose people who became famous for their talent and skills but were lacking in principles. Make sure that your heroes were people whose lives lead you in the right direction.

Do consider people like Swami Vivekananda who exhorted us to live courageously, Abraham Lincoln for his greatness as well as humility, Nelson Mandela for patience and perseverance, Mother Teresa who lived a selfless life full of love for the down trodden masses or Mahatma Gandhi who taught the world about non-violence and secular life. Choose such people whose lives made a positive impact on the world around them.

I would love to hear about who your heroes are and why?

8 comments:

Pramoda Meduri said...

HI Vish..

Thanks for this post..

Heros shall be chosen very carefully and i agree with ur opinion.. for me, i have choosen abhram linkoln since my childhood..:)

PS: Hey.. i have been missing ur comments in mu blog..:(

Niru said...

Very good post.I agree with you.

''Do not choose people who achieve success unless it was based on value pillars like honesty and integrity. Do not choose people who became famous for their talent and skills but were lacking in principles. Make sure that your heroes were people whose lives lead you in the right direction''.

Well said! :)
Thank You for this post.

Anonymous said...

Heroes help us define,develop and live life by values...We would like to possess all the qualities and ambitions that we see in our heroes.
Heroes can be found in our day to day life..for ex: they could be our parents or our teachers.My ideal hero would be someone like Kiran Bedi in whom I see extraordinary qualities like courage,honour and justice.

Talking of heroes let us not forget to salute all those heroes who have laid their lives for our country..

Tyaagi.

The Literary Jewels said...

I agree with what you wrote, indeed, heroes need to be chosen carefully. Another point is that there are people who remain unsung in their lifetime no matter how great their contribution might be...we must not forget those unsung heroes, who may be a common man just like us.

Manivannan Sadasivam said...

You're very right, Vish! Choosing Heros is very important. Because they influence us, and help shape our values.

Among all the Political Leaders, Mahatma Gandhi is my chosen one. I think, after reading my poem, you may have guessed it, nah?

And Like Gandhi, there are a dozen other SPIRTIUAL GAINTS I always look up to :-)

ramesh sadasivam said...

Very true, your hero is your inspiration. Depending on what inspires you, your life changes for Good.

I have a long list of heroes, Starting from Lord Ramaswamy to Traffic Ramaswamy. :)

Faith AND Patience said...

Sir,

Since you have asked let share my few Hero's with you. For two hero's I'll not explain why..bcoz U only explained in your blog.."Hero No.1" is Mahatma Gandhi; Vivekanand (at very small age in 39 years he did plenty of things); Shri Ram (full life dedication for society, "EK Ban, EK Vachan & EK Stri"; Bhagat Singh (at such a young age..sacrifice for country); Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose (Fight Spirit); Saint Gnaneshwar & Jagadguru Sankaracharya (very small age did plenty of things for the society); Amitabh Bachhan & Sachin Tendulkar (Down to earth); Kapil Dev (real sports person - with out politics); Amir Khan (real talent..with full dedication towards work) from Professional Life - Narayan Murthy (keeps time line in all activities and FOCUS for all activities)Any few more like that mainly who are down to earth, with out much politics.

I fully agree to your views that we have choose our Hero's properly and we tend to become like that - Some times real heros are from family too (or less known Individuals).

Subs said...

Inspiring...I feel my heroes should be complete in terms of character also. And Spiritual too.
Gandhiji is right on top, for everything he stood/lived for. Swami Vivekanand was a grat Yogi and a cool too ( can't think of a different term).
Among our contemperories, I admire Dr Kalam, Pt Jasraj/Yesudas/Dr BMK, Vishy Anand/Sachin...

Though I have great admiration for Pt Nehru, AB, Amir Khan, Kamal Hasan, etc., they are not my heroes.