Role Models and Thought Leaders
Worthy Role Models and Thought Leaders is a collection of articles focused on individuals who I feel represent humanity at its higher potential. They represent a lifetime of values that contributes to the human experience, and that we can all learn from.
Where are the values today?
In this day and age, where are the values and positive virtues we should embrace individually and collectively? Where are they in society, in schools, in media, in government?
Who we are and the codes we live by- are all conditioned by our daily life exposure. In my view, society bombards us with messages of vanity, selfishness and shamelessness. There is insufficient positive regard for ethics and the golden rule; there is too much positive regard for destructive character traits.
In fact, psychologist Dr. George Simon notes that healthy character, our psychological immune system, is simply not given the importance it once held generations ago. I am referring to that ideological time when the spoken word had value, a handshake sealed the deal and a name had meaning.
Filling the void
I would like to address this deficit by presenting and discussing what I call Worthy Role Models and Thought Leaders. Actual heroes.
When I was kid my heroes were distinct – baseball players like Jackie Robinson; musicians like Jerry Garcia or Jimi Hendrix; Indiana Jones, Albert Einstein. In some cases, I gravitated towards these personalities because of achievement and contribution, in other cases social appeal. I am a lot more specific these days as I relate to my individual, family and professional values and goals.
What defines a worthy role model or thought leader?
There is pressing need to fill our lives with examples of “living values.” I wholeheartedly believe that no matter where you are in life, it is your duty to be a better person, to evolve and make the world a better place. A Socratic discussion on Virtue might be well placed here, or not. Regardless, the notion of the character of one's life being a guiding torch for emulation is the Role Model or Thought Leader I seek to discover and discuss in this series. Afterall, a complete health process is incomplete without self betterment for a greater good.
Leading a life of values
We are all human – the well accepted adage to excuse our shortcomings and often our transgressions. We are all human – let us rise to the potential of human as a greater good- in selflessness, humility, service and more. The collection of Worthy Role Models and Thought Leaders embraces individuals and their lessons who really lived for more.
