Life Lesson #1: Careful on that Pedestal

"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.  When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me." 1 Corinthians 13:11. 

This is so true. When we are children and young adults we put people on pedestals.  We gravitate to people who will guide us, who will shape us into independent people.  We look for role models who will help us find our moral centers, who will mold our character.  This is the natural way of life.  There were people who shaped me into the person I am today.  I actually have been toying with a post about things I was taught by these people.  Yesterday, one of those people fell off the pedestal I put them on. And it was a hard fall.

You see, this person impacted my moral compass when I was younger.  When I was searching for the person I was to be.  This person was a favorite mentor - cooler than cool.  This person let us listen to music we wanted - even when it wasn't allowed.  This person was a confidant.  This person overheard my secrets.  This person didn't judge. Not only did this person shape me, but I placed this person on a pedestal.  The problem with pedestals is = they are a child’s toys.

There is only one person who can forever remain on a pedestal - and that is my grandfather.  Only because he passed away before I became an adult.  I was never able to see him through adult eyes.  I never saw him as a man with mere mortal flaws.  And now that I am an adult, that time for placing people on pedestals is over.  People have fallen from them before Yesterday... but it had been awhile and this one caught me off guard.

My moral compass has changed course.  There have been many things in my life that have pushed that compass in the direction it now points - but we all know that Alexander has impacted this area as well.  Alexander’s influence on me has made me appreciate life in a new way.  It has made me appreciate what really matters in life (a totally different life lesson) … so when this person confronted me on an issue I felt was irrelevant, my moral compass outweighed our history.  My mentor fell. Like a rock. Right off that pedestal. And it stunk. Big time.

I cried.  I cried as much for the loss of a “hero” as I did out of anger or frustration or embarrassment.  I cried for my family and the issues we face every day (I told you I almost broke Yesterday.) I cried that a person I so admired had so little to worry about … and my priorities are so different.  I cried as my mentor fell off the perch.

Life lesson learned.  However – there is a second part to this life lesson.  This second part is aimed at all my former students or other people I may have impacted over the course of my life.  Someday I will fall.  Someday, you will see me through adult eyes and I will do something that shocks you to your core.  No one is perfect.  No one can live up to the expectations a pedestal creates.  Someday, I may make you cry as I tumble into the world of mere mortals.  Please forgive me and accept me as human.  As I will forgive my former mentor.

Life Lesson #1 from Yesterday.