“A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.”
~ Christopher Reeve
Newspaper headlines are replete with stories illustrating the failures of today’s sporting champions. Names like Michael Spinks, Pete Rose, Tiger Woods and Bret Favre bring to mind one of the very worst things we can imagine happening to an athletic icon – moral or ethical failure.
A champion may simply be the undeserving recipient of God’s favor; someone who has been granted the tools to excel beyond his fellows. In our culture there are many "champions" who are not really "heroes" we would want to model. There are lots of winners who would be dismal role-models for us to emulate.
We well remember the famous words of Charles Barkley when he declared to the press, “I’m no role model.”
It’s true that these athletic superstars may reject the role society expects them to play, but it is equally true that their rejection of this responsibility does not mitigate the fact that they are envied and even copied by millions of young and old admirers. It’s a sad reality that many observers are more interested in clinging to the illusion of success than pursuing its reality behind closed doors. A Champion is a winner but we need more; a certain kind of winner who embodies the spirit of victory.
~ Christopher Reeve
Newspaper headlines are replete with stories illustrating the failures of today’s sporting champions. Names like Michael Spinks, Pete Rose, Tiger Woods and Bret Favre bring to mind one of the very worst things we can imagine happening to an athletic icon – moral or ethical failure.
A champion may simply be the undeserving recipient of God’s favor; someone who has been granted the tools to excel beyond his fellows. In our culture there are many "champions" who are not really "heroes" we would want to model. There are lots of winners who would be dismal role-models for us to emulate.
We well remember the famous words of Charles Barkley when he declared to the press, “I’m no role model.”
It’s true that these athletic superstars may reject the role society expects them to play, but it is equally true that their rejection of this responsibility does not mitigate the fact that they are envied and even copied by millions of young and old admirers. It’s a sad reality that many observers are more interested in clinging to the illusion of success than pursuing its reality behind closed doors. A Champion is a winner but we need more; a certain kind of winner who embodies the spirit of victory.
A Hero is another matter … by very definition, we want to be like our heroes and they are worth modeling. A hero is more than a mere champion. A hero has the inner stuff making them the kind of person we all want to be like. Most of us have heroes and many of us secretly hope to be someone else’s hero too. A hero shows us what we can be, given the discipline and character we aspire to develop in our life through dedication and hard work. When a champion embodies the characteristics of a hero, we have a stupendous combination of the very best of both worlds – form and content. Therefore we should aspire to be more than someone who appears to be something but is not. Let’s strive to be exactly what we appear to be.
Champions are born but heroes are made and each of us has to choose if we will strive to become a hero or not.
"Choose to make yourself into a hero and you will never be a disappointment to yourself or the others who are watching you."
by Daniel Southern
"Choose to make yourself into a hero and you will never be a disappointment to yourself or the others who are watching you."
by Daniel Southern
