Where have The Heros Gone?

Today was just one of those days. I read motivational quotes and just didn't feel motivated. You ever have one of those days? I was reading the blog of someone whose writing and opinions I have some respect for. I don't know this person personally but I read his opinions regularly. Sort of like the people I hope will read this some day! He was writing about the death of Paul Harvey, who inspired him greatly, as he did so many millions. And about the illness or death of many of the inspirational leaders that he looked up to; many of them of an earlier generation. And he was mourning the loss of all the wisdom, the heros, the role models. His conclusion was ultimately that their wisdom will live on. My conclusion is that we have to work harder to be wise, to be the role models and the heros. He came to the conclusion that there was nobody left to look up to. My conclusion is that we have to create those citizens. In every generation there are leaders and heros. Often they don't look familiar to us as we grow older and they grow younger; perhaps we will miss them entirely. But the younger generations won't miss them, they will recognize leadership when they see it, they will be inspired by greatness of effort, of ideal and accomplishment. Look at what happened in the last presidential election It was the young that carried the day; they recognized inspirational when they saw it. It is our job not only to raise heros and leaders, but to point them out, to keep an open mind, to show our children where to look. Nobody is inspirational because they are a good basketball player, they are inspirational because they use their money and fame to bring something good and important to the community, to the children, to the poor. And then there are those who are inspirational because they do important, good things and they are not rich, they are not famous and they do not get recognition, they simply do the right thing. Isn't that really what we want to teach our children anyway, that you do the right thing because it is the right thing and for no other reason.