my hero
2000-08-21 - 11:10:18
�trip, trip, trip, as long as we don�t fall...�
You ever stop and wonder how much of you is fake? (If you have to stop everything to ask this question, the answer is most likely �freakin� near all of it�.) How many of your daily actions are not extensions of your true personality, but a means to achieve an end? Do you imitate another personality just to obtain a desired result? �Maybe he would go out with me better if I was like her�...�I wouldn�t normally do this, but Joey did�...�I have to keep going. That�s what James Bond would do...�. Sometimes we do things that feel distinctly �not me�, sometimes we do things out of character. They says the ends justify the means, but what if the mean to that end is the sacrifice of reality?
I have stated before that I am unsure that these things attached to my shoulders are mine own arms. Physically, they are very attached to me. But are these �arms� really mine? Was it really me who decided to exercise, to increase their mass...or was it me, acting in a vain attempt to be something that I really wasn�t? Maybe I wanted to impress, maybe it was for my own self-conscience, or perhaps it was really me. And I shall never really know if I am what I am, or just what I pretend to be.
So many people casually change their personality depending on who they happen to be with, or whom they think is looking at them. So many people sacrifice their very selves to get something that their real self wouldn�t. A boyfriend, a car, an ice cream. And so many of those people try to copy someone else to get it.
They are called heroes. We have heroes because the society in which we live obligates us to. It is not natural to want to be something or someone else. It is not natural to try to be something else in an effort to get something you might not get otherwise. It is right to appreciate the work of others, give praise and credit. But nothing is gained from trying to be like someone, just because you think they have achieved (or are) something greater than yourself. If you want greatness, you should stop hiding in someone else�s shadow. We all know that Bill Gates is a great buisnessman, but how many classes did he take to study the finer art of business economics? (The answer, I suppose, is not too many.) So why is there a craze for �learning management techniques�, if that�s not the way that the original billionaire made his fortune? Because we think there is a chance. We think that if someone else does something, then we have an equal chance. What we have to realize here is that we cannot just Cut and Paste (TM) someone else�s life to our own. We cannot be them better than they can. We also need to realize that there are seemingly infinite fields of study, and that the fame and fortune of the American Dream (TM)* can be found at the top of all these fields. Perhaps you will make your fortune by thinking up different uses of peanuts, or acting in a small theatre group near a river. Whatever it is, we should all be doing our own thing, in an effort to do our best, for the benefit of each other. If everyone respected one another and refrained from copying them, we would soon find Einsteins that are hiding in the shadows of another person�s life. Stop pretending to be something you�re not, and be what you are. Be yourself. Just be.
�...I got a wire crossed upstairs, but all I want is just a little truth and that�s it...�
*The American Dream is not permitted for persons under eighteen, persons presently in the process of pregnancy, homosexuals, homophobes, small terrier dogs, persons living in this country for less than ten years, or residents of Canada, Mexico, or Italy. America Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer (TM).
