Who's your biggest role model?

[Phoenix84]

What person in the world, living or dead, would you most like to emulate? Who's your role model, and why?

[TheHaitian]

My mother and I cannot say enough why.

She showed me how to remain true to oneself no matter what. She pulled herself from "true" poverty to a solid middle class position. She showed me what it is to be a parent and literally went to bed hungry but made sure we were fed.

She shaped my moral compass , showed me how to be ambitious without being full of myself, proud yet humble, always remind me: treat those that work for you the same way you would want to be treated.

She believes in sharing her good fortune, helping the less fortunate, give without expecting anything back.

Thought me the importance of family, cultivate friendships, quality/true friends are better than quantity, mean what you say and stand by it. Learn to forgive because life is too short but don't be foolish enough to forget.

Save but also know when to have fun. Take pride in your success but don't shove it in people's face. Always be ready to have a party or host a party; share your home.

Find a friend and make a life together. Stand by your partner, be their support when they need it, and their kick in the ass when they need it.

Have a strong work ethic, it defines you, it is how you represent yourself, your signature. Be respectful to others but most importantly respect yourself. Learn when to laugh at yourself.

Have a life, make memories, love, smile, be merry, cry, mourn, and live again. Appreciate those that are around you and thank God everyday for all he has provided you with.

[thyme4change]

I'm my own best role model.  


Okay - not really.  Whenever I have tried to emulate others it ends up a failure.  I have worked on adopting a lot of good qualities of my husband.  And I probably started my adulthood with the mental picture of my father being a good "adult."  I still do a lot of things that I probably "got" from him.  And, I have tried to get snippets from my boss on how to manage people.  I have been horrible at implementing them because he has a totally different personality than me - but I try to keep it in mind when I am facing a personnel decision.

[Tired Tess]

I'd have to say my Mom and Dad but in so many ways I am very different from them. My Mom was a SHM and never drove.  I don't think poorly of this, but it is not me.  OTOH, she was all for her family.  Loving, warm, very funny with a great loud laugh.  I try to be like that.

My Dad was also all about the family.  Very, very smart.  Hard worker.  Practicing Catholic.  I liked his convictions.  I didn't always agree with him, but listening to his side of an argument was like watching a masterpiece come to life.

And they loved each other very much.  They would hold hands while watching TV or dance in the kitchen if a favorite song came on the radio.  

The both of them make me think of what I'm doing and how well I'm doing it.  I try to keep up   

[sesfw]

Every time I tried to put someone on a pedestal a skeleton would come out. And I would find out they are human like I am.

So I try to emulate the good I see in a lot of different people.  I'm not always successful but I try.

[msventoux]

I don't really have role models.  I pick and choose what qualities I admire and if I'm not too lazy I try to follow suit.  I've known far too many people who were fine upstanding pillars of the community whose actions were reprehensible to those closest to them. 

The majority of my family and people I grew up with I use as a guide of what not to become.  A lot of them acted terribly, but at least they were honest about it and didn't hide behind a veneer of civility and altruism.

[busymom]

I'd have to say my Mom was the best role model. She handled adversity VERY well, always told us kids that she loved us, & proved it by her actions. She also gave "tough love" when discipline was needed, taught me how to bake, & shared the family stories of how different people in our family tree survived the Great Depression. She also gave us a moral compass by taking us to church & teaching us to be kind to others, especially those who had less than we did, through no fault of their own. (Both Mom & Dad taught us that life isn't always fair, but you "play with the hand you're dealt".) Mom was a career woman before marrying & having us kids, so she could give advice on job hunting & dealing with difficult bosses. Her "office" was always open when we needed advice, & even now in her old age is always interested in how the family is doing.

[Deleted]

It was parents except now father is departed now it is mother and acharya ji.

[Peace Of Mind]

Charlie Sheen. 

[cronewitch]

I admire my brother's wife in most ways but I am not her. She was 17 the week before she married my brother who was 18. She lived with him in poverty, raising babies, she went to college when she had kids who were preteen and graduated with honors, got a masters degree. She loved kids and taught school for almost 30 years. Now she is the perfect grandmother and mother and still a good wife. She has always kept as nice a house as she could afford, always clean and nice. My brother hasn't complained about her at all except she can spend money fast. She is smart so when he took her to a financial planner she understood and put money in her 403B.

I disagree with them taking money out of her 403B to start a home based business but they made profits. I disagree with them paying 3% to Edward Jones and keeping no knowledge about what the investments are about. She told Edward Jones to give her money every month and wants to run out at 90 and is happy she has more than she started with. That would drive me crazy worrying about inflation or outliving money. But she is a great hostess and cook and sews and quilts and all the other womanly arts.

She grew up without a mother, mom ran off leaving dad with 7 kids. He married evil stepmother but the kids banded together and learned to handle things. So even at 17 she could cook a holiday meal. Her brother and husband were there for the first thanksgiving. She made a butterball turkey, she hadn't ever had that kind so didn't know it would be greasy. The gravy separated so the boys took a measuring cup door to door begging for turkey gravy. That brother died but the other 5 kids are all really tight knit. She married my brother in 1968 but the wedding wasn't expensive so they stayed married.

[ZaireinHD]

Batman

[quince]

I don't know that I have one anymore, but it was my mom.  Raised two kids after my bio-dad bailed, got her bachelors while doing so and working two part-time jobs.  Good at just about everything she tries. Athletic, intelligent, calm, actually a nice person. 

The drawback to having a role-model like that is that I could never measure up.  Despite encouragement and reassurance that I am not loved more or less based on my successes, I've got an inferiority complex a mile wide. I thought she was awesome while I was growing up, now that I have ONE kid, a high-earning supportive husband, and am in my mid-thirties, I am blown away by the job she did with two, one with a disability, in her early twenties, with a deadbeat ex.

Our paths diverged, and I'm all grown up now, so not really looking to emulate anyone anymore.  I know she's not perfect, but I still think she's awesome.  I compare myself to her much less, and focus on doing my best, and being kind to myself.

My husband is kind of like her in some of the ways I admire most:  brilliant, doesn't ever lose his temper, brains and athleticism. Good at almost everything he tries...I've joked with a friend of mine that instead of marrying someone like my dad, I married someone like my mom.  

[NoNamePerson]

Nov 16, 2014 1:10:17 GMT -5 Peace Of Mind said:

Charlie Sheen. 

Berta.

[Deleted]

It has taken me a lifetime to undo the biggest role models effects in my life. The undoing comes from my constant glean from the word of God, and the good parts I've heard spoken from, and seen by so many others.

Believe it or not, some of you I've gleaned from too. 

[zibazinski]

If I had married someone like my dad instead of someone like my mom, I'd still be married.

[andreawick]

Jesus or maybe @miss Tequila

[zibazinski]

I actually always admired Katherine Hepburn. Don't know what she saw in having a decades long affair with
Spencer Tracy so she wasn't perfect that's for sure. But I always admired her.

[kittensaver]

My mother. She is 91 and still going strong. When I was growing up, she stood up for me in a house that frequently overflowed with testosterone (even our pets were male).

When she was widowed in young middle age she picked herself up, went back to work and made a life for herself.

As a senior, when she retired and moved away from the community in which I grew up, she once again picked herself up and made a *real* life for herself.

So she is my role model of not only how to be a career woman, but also how to be a senior who still contributes to their family life and to their community. The only thing she is NOT a role model for me is how to handle money. She's pretty much failed at that. She had a great second career and made a very good living, but she pretty much blew it all - spending it as fast as she could make it. She has never been able to handle finances well in terms of planning. She owns her own home, but now lives on only Social Security. So I guess she can be a role model for me there too, right? How NOT to do something?

[greeniis10]

Nov 15, 2014 16:46:18 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

My mother and I cannot say enough why.

She showed me how to remain true to oneself no matter what. She pulled herself from "true" poverty to a solid middle class position. She showed me what it is to be a parent and literally went to bed hungry but made sure we were fed.

She shaped my moral compass , showed me how to be ambitious without being full of myself, proud yet humble, always remind me: treat those that work for you the same way you would want to be treated.

She believes in sharing her good fortune, helping the less fortunate, give without expecting anything back.

Thought me the importance of family, cultivate friendships, quality/true friends are better than quantity, mean what you say and stand by it. Learn to forgive because life is too short but don't be foolish enough to forget.

Save but also know when to have fun. Take pride in your success but don't shove it in people's face. Always be ready to have a party or host a party; share your home.

Find a friend and make a life together. Stand by your partner, be their support when they need it, and their kick in the ass when they need it.

Have a strong work ethic, it defines you, it is how you represent yourself, your signature. Be respectful to others but most importantly respect yourself. Learn when to laugh at yourself.

Have a life, make memories, love, smile, be merry, cry, mourn, and live again. Appreciate those that are around you and thank God everyday for all he has provided you with.

Carl, I hope you print this out and give it to your Mom!  It would make her so very happy.

[The Captain]

For me it was my Dad.  Yes I know he is flawed (who isn't) but to him nothing was more important than taking care of family.

He did this while managing to overcome the roadblocks put in place by his own father and the society in which he grew up.  In spite of being raised in a very racist and sexist house/part of the country and pulled out of school in the 5th grade to work in the fields he:

1.  Made sure all his kids, including his two daughters, had the best education he could afford
2.  Mentored, hired, and recommended for union admission many minorities (black and Hispanic - this was in the 70's so that was groundbreaking back then, you could only get into the union if you knew someone.  Most of the time peeps only recommended folks from the same ethnic background they were).  One year he got over a dozen bottles of tequila at xmas.  That's how I found out why and what for.
3.  Took care of his parents financially when needed
4.  Took care of my mom's parents (even though they treated him like shit at first) and even had his MIL live with him for over 10 years.
5.  Has always been a decent person, including letting his kids keep the kittens they brought home and paying for expensive surgery to get a club foot on one fixed.
6.  (And this one is new) making sure the vets in his area have enough pallbearers by attending funerals himself and calling in his cronies even if they didn't know the person.  I found this out from my Sister after Dad called her hubby to ask if he could help out when a few of his regular crew were out sick.

[wyouser]

My father, although there is a goodly amount taken from my mother and 2 sets of grandparents. Family and taking care of family. Work ethic. But what I can't quite figure out is how I ended up acquiring my father's and grandfather's dairy schedule. I live in town. We have a few goldfish and a dog. Why am I perpetually up and ready to roll between 3:00 and 3:30 am every single day? I haven't been around a dairy barn or a milk cow in over 40 years.

[tskeeter]

Nov 17, 2014 14:49:02 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

I actually always admired Katherine Hepburn. Don't know what she saw in having a decades long affair with
Spencer Tracy so she wasn't perfect that's for sure. But I always admired her.

There is a lot to admire.

A strong, self confident woman at a time when women were somewhat subservient to men.  But not our Kate.

Stylish, but certainly not trendy.

Smart.  I think really smart.

In many respects, led the way toward what became the feminist movement.  I don't think she planned it that way.  She was headed her own direction.  You could follow, or not, as you chose.

[TheOtherMe]

All people are flawed.

The two people who taught me the most about getting out in to the world were my typing teacher (RIP) and shorthand teacher.  They saw through my insecurities and took me under their wings because they believed in me.  Without them, I would have ended up a secretary, which I never wanted to be.  

These two knew my dad had told me I would never get married so I had to take typing and shorthand.  They told me to get a job, save money and prove him wrong.  I did just that.  I paid for every dime of my college education and had a very successful career.

[Artemis Windsong]

My parents told me to take shorthand and typing.  I did have some nice jobs.

I was told to save 10% of everything I made.  I did.

Also, don't do anything that will harm me, another person or property.

They are not my role models.  My parents should never have had children as they were partyers and us kids were a handful.