"Each person must live their life as a model for others"
Rosa Parks
I have always wanted a role model as it seems like a shortcut in life, as I presume it will help me cut down on some excesses and serve as a better path to life. But something struck me in a later part of my life, I have had a role model all along, but who is a role model?
To begin, a role model is not always or necessarily a "good" person. A role model is simply an example that someone can imitate, or model after. It is like looking at someone's life as a piece of art and trying to recreate the same art with one's life.
Role modelling can happen intentionally or inadvertently. Sometimes, you deliberately choose people as role models, and other times, your role models choose you (in essence, you model after them without your knowledge).
Children, for example, automatically and instinctively, children model after their parents and those around them. It is a situation in which they are left with little choice. Having come into the world knowing very little, imitation seems like the best way to learn, and imitating those close to you is the best option.
While the image of our childhood model hardly leaves us, as we grow, we tend to develop preferences and principles, and at some point, independence, and this moves people to choose a new model (sometimes without their notice).
My first role model, like almost everyone, was my parents, like, both of them. I emulated industrousness from my mum, and situational management from my dad. Both of them played a huge role in the early stages of my life, and their impact continues to be felt till date.
I found another model, a very close friend who I admired the way he did things. However, at a later stage of my life, as I came close to him, I felt it was best and safer to practice what I would term "selective modelling", since to my judgement, not everything about him felt nice to model after.
Don't just choose a role model, choose numerous role models. The task here will now be one's ability to identify the best qualities from each of these models that he/she would love to emulate. As I became closer to my model, it was clear that being a good person was more than having a good role model. Humans will always show that they are humans, and as such, pick good qualities from different models and make yourself a unique and creative copy of your being instead of being an imitation copy of someone else.
