Hero worship

Completely off subject to start off with (things don’t seem to be going too well for this post at the moment, do they?) I have just noticed the textual similarity between warship and worship. I don’t think you could get anything as remotely separate as the meaning of the two similar words. Or maybe you can, I’m only thinking of these two words while I’m typing this. Unless you are a person who worships warships I can’t see the two ever being used in the same sentence. Unless, of course, Able Seaman Worship works on the warship, and then you possibly would… Really, I’m trying not to think!

Anyway, moving on.

I’m writing about heroes today. Not super heroes, or the heroes we depend on to save our lives when necessary, but our own personal heroes. Those people who we tend to look up to. Those who we put on a pedestal for them simply being them; those who can seemingly do no wrong; those who we want to be more like.

When I was young and at school, one of the boys in my class was really good at drawing. He would always have an extremely sharp pencil, and would draw with pinpoint accuracy anything he could think of. He would have been aged seven or eight. I suppose at the time he was a hero of mine as I wanted to be just like him. I wanted to be able to draw with his skill. I wanted to always have an extremely sharp pencil for that matter – mine were always blunt (as were the rest of the class!) – but I never seemed to be as good as him.

I tried my hardest to be good at drawing. I actually got quite good at it, if I’m being honest. One day, the class had to sit in two rows and draw and paint the person who was sitting opposite. I was sitting across from a boy who was easy to draw. He had long, straight blond hair, big blue eyes, and a big smile. When the class had finished their portraits, about half an hour later, they were put up onto a wall, and the class were asked to name who was who in the paintings. The partners were not allowed to say, as they knew who each other had painted. Now, I don’t mean to be awful when I say this, but some of the paintings were a bit, erm, grotesque. Some had oversized eyes and ears, some had frightening looking noses. Others looked like they could have appeared in the original series of Star Trek. I felt sorry for the girl who the majority of the group thought a monsteresque-like picture was of, when it turned out to be one of the other boys. The painter had managed to get the features right, only not in the right places. My painting was named immediately. Now I’m being big-headed. But my subject was very easy to draw. But, I wonder, would my subject have been as easy, had I not looked up to the boy with the sharp pencil and wanted to be like him?

The same thing can be said of some people who I used to work with many years later. Some people would answer the phone as if it was just what they had to do. Other people would answer the phone as if they thoroughly enjoyed what they were doing, they would speak clearly, concisely, and handle their queries effectively. I learned more from the enthusiastic people, rather than the others, because I wanted to be like them. I wanted to enjoy what I did. I wanted to sound like they did.

And now onto this blog. I have read many books over the years. I’ve also read many interesting websites and blogs that have made me think slightly differently, or inspired me in some way. Part of this inspiration is why I started to ‘have a go’ at blogging myself. I’d like to be able to write something as good as, or even better than, those that I have read before. I’d like to stamp my own way of thinking in what I write, with the hope that I can inspire others to do what they want to do.

I want to be that boy with the sharp pencil. I want to be the enthusiastic work colleague. I want to be the international best selling author.

OK, I’m running slightly ahead of myself with the last one, but I would like to be one of the people who others can look up to.

Not on a pedestal, but on the same level. Not as a hero, but as a mentor.  Someone who people can say ‘Well, if he can do it, I can do it!’

And if I can do that, anyone can do anything they put their mind to…