I do not know whether this happens with you or not. With me this used to happen a lot. I hold someone in high regard, and plop! one day this person falls from grace. And you know how that feels, right?
During my school days, it was as if I was always looking out for role-models. One spectacular victory from the crushing jaws of defeat, and my self-assigned homework would be to collect as much information as possible on how he or she made it this far.
By the time I passed out from school, I had a long list—as long as the Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge—of role models. And Thank God, I have lost that list for I fear if my son were to ever go through my hero-worship list, he should turn around and say, “Mum, really? As one in 3 people that I hero-worshipped has courted some form of controversy or the other, faced a suspension or life-time ban, and one even cooled his heels in jail. All this brings me to a question: Was I wrong in my choice of role-models?
We idolize champions for different reasons. Take Andre Aggasi for instance. The immensely talented Aggasi is said to be one of the most gifted men ever to step onto a tennis court. He became an eight-time grand slam champion, proving his metal on all surfaces—grass, clay or synthetic, and had a massive fan following. Fans emulated everything from the material of his bandana scarf to his Nike shoes.
Come year 2009, Andre’s autobiography “OPEN” is released, and to the disappointment of many of his ardent fans, a chilling confession is also bared open through the pages of this unsual sports memoir-Andre Aggasi’s CRYSTAL METH escapade. My champion went on a lying spree to keep his on and off the court star image (which he proclaimed to be EVERYTHING for a cannon ad ) untarnished!
Serena William’s melt down against chair umpire Carlos Ramos in the 2018 US Open final was a letdown for many of her fans.
No man is an island. We look up to some people, often times with a hope to learn from them, appreciate them, and in the process become a better version of ourselves. The point to remember is sports stars, celebrities, moon-walkers, space travelers, or your next-door neighbors at the end of the day are humans after all. Being human means being subject to a wide range of capabilities and emotions. Being human also means being wise. Interestingly, Homo sapiens, which is the name of our species in Latin also translates to “Wise man”.
Now I understand that human beings operate on differing planes of consciousness. Good deeds by an individual are indicating that he or she is operating from a higher plane of consciousness. A higher plane of consciousness includes integrity, love for your fellow-beings, self-esteem, joy, serenity, gratitude, patience, respect, humility, etc. Similarly nasty deeds signify dishonesty, extreme selfishness, snatching away what is rightfully someone else’s, hatred, propagating malice and hatred, etc, and are indicative of a lower plane of consciousness.
When our sporting role-models were thinking right, doing right and winning grand slams, they were operating from a higher plane of consciousness. The qualities they displayed then are the ones worth emulating and reinforcing to lead a purposeful life. For the fact that our champions at some point in their life operated from lower to extreme lower forms of consciousness, let us not even go there for, there is nothing to learn there.
IMAGE CREDIT: Danyang–Kunshan By MNXANL – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=86389325
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