When you hear/see the word “role model”, what do have in mind? Somebody we wanted to emulate, somebody we wanted to be like, right? A loving father/mother, a responsible brother/sister, a favorite athlete, an honor student, a hardworking and successful businessmen, name them. Yet the truth is there are really two (2) kinds of role models. The 1st one is so obvious “When I grow up, I want to be like him.” But the 2nd one might be a little harder to accept. So let's go to the more unique type of role model. Hmmmmm. It really depends how we look at them. We all have our shares of people who irritates us. The so called “villains and bad guys”.
There's so many of them out there. Name them, the liars, the cheaters, the bullies, the swindlers, the irresponsible ones, people without morals and ethics (we can fill up a whole page of them here). Let's add some more, the drunkards, the drug addicts, the wife beaters, the child molesters, the and the likes. The scum of the society? Yet look at them closely, then focus instead on the grander scheme of things. As hard to accept as what I'm going to say, they are really just as important to our spiritual nourishment as those who loves us. But role models? Come on, give me a break! But yes, they are too. But let's cast them in a different light instead. They are the “When I grow up, I don't want to be like them” types of models. They are models in a sense that we see what they do, then we simply reverse the trend and resolve to veer away from their path of self-destruction.
How many drunkards grew up in a family where the father is drunk everyday? How many father thieves reared up off-spring thieves? Like father, like son.
Yet look at the flip side of the coin. How many kids who grew up in a broken family ended up as an ideal parent? How many successful businessmen grew up in a family of poverty where the father is lazy, incompetent and irresponsible? How many loving parents have tyrant parents of their own? How many winners sprouted out while growing up in an environment where losing and mediocrity is the norm?
What was the difference? Simple. They used them as a “reverse role model”. They pick up the negative traits then made a 360 degree turn from what they see.
So next time you see someone who disgust you or irritate you, make a resolve never to be like him. Then for good measure (take a deep breath), thank him for being there as a reverse role model for you. Because their worst traits just brought out the best traits of you.
