We all have role models that we follow, celebrities that we admire, and mentors we look up to. These people might be alive (Mark Zuckerberg), dead (Heath Ledger), or fictional (Jay Gatsby). Nonetheless, they play a huge part in shaping our lives.
It all starts with the admiring of these people for a certain quality which eventually starts spreading to their other qualities until it encompasses them as a whole. At this point, we are either in agreement with everything this person does or in disagreement with everything this person does. For or against.
This is the reason scandals involving celebrities are of a lot more interest to people, because it helps shape the for or against debate. 'How can Shashi Tharoor refer to people as cattle?' 'How can Tiger Wood cheat on his wife?' 'How can Lady Gaga dress normal?' It is against our perception of the whole that we know.
The role model should never be in whole, but always in parts. I like to watch free-flowing, attacking football, and that doesn't mean I don't enjoy watching Chelsea park the bus at Nou Camp and steal a 1-0 win against Barcelona. I admire John Terry as a footballer and a leader, and that doesn't mean I appreciate what he did to Wayne Bridge (or what he did to his girlfriend, to be precise). I appreciate certain aspects of Hinduism, and that doesn't mean I'm a follower of everything it says.
You will succeed in picking up the best from your mentor(s) only when you do not attach yourself to their personality, when you do not take them in as a whole, when you do not make it an all or nothing.
True wisdom lies in the parts. And it lies in picking the right parts from various wholes.
It all starts with the admiring of these people for a certain quality which eventually starts spreading to their other qualities until it encompasses them as a whole. At this point, we are either in agreement with everything this person does or in disagreement with everything this person does. For or against.
This is the reason scandals involving celebrities are of a lot more interest to people, because it helps shape the for or against debate. 'How can Shashi Tharoor refer to people as cattle?' 'How can Tiger Wood cheat on his wife?' 'How can Lady Gaga dress normal?' It is against our perception of the whole that we know.
The role model should never be in whole, but always in parts. I like to watch free-flowing, attacking football, and that doesn't mean I don't enjoy watching Chelsea park the bus at Nou Camp and steal a 1-0 win against Barcelona. I admire John Terry as a footballer and a leader, and that doesn't mean I appreciate what he did to Wayne Bridge (or what he did to his girlfriend, to be precise). I appreciate certain aspects of Hinduism, and that doesn't mean I'm a follower of everything it says.
You will succeed in picking up the best from your mentor(s) only when you do not attach yourself to their personality, when you do not take them in as a whole, when you do not make it an all or nothing.
True wisdom lies in the parts. And it lies in picking the right parts from various wholes.
CONVERSATION