Do you ever find yourself talking to yourself? It usually happens in the car with most folks. You can see their lips moving as they drive. You wonder what it is they’re saying and if they’re listening. Sometimes I catch myself doing it and some people call it “self talk”. I’ve learned to only say good things to me, realizing I may not hear much good stuff from folks I run into. So I try not to “beat myself up”, as they say. The problem was, during one particular self-talk session all I could think about was Charlie Sheen. A man so wrapped up in himself, he can think of no others. He claims to be ‘winning” whatever he’s about and I thought, if this guy is actually “winning”, I must have hit the
Megabucks jackpot.

I dropped ol’ Charlie off at the nearest curb and began playing the trading places game where I think of a person, could be a celeb, athlete, a celeb/athlete (very common these days), politician, billionaire or anyone really, (of course they must be alive) and ask myself if I would trade places with that person. I can honestly say I have yet to find the person with whom I would trade places, for if I did there would no longer be a me as I know myself and hopefully, I would be missed. If you think about it, you’ll probably come to the same conclusion. When all else fails, we have our uniqueness to fall back on and we are all one of a kind. It’s disheartening to see many of our young folks idolizing a picture, a person they see on TV or sports “hero”. I wonder when that practice began. I wonder how many would be willing to trade places with a particular celebrity. We never referred to Ted Williams as a hero and he flew fighters in two different wars. We called him the “Splendid Splinter”. That seemed to be enough for “Teddy Ballgame”. We just never used the word “hero” back in the day. They were referred to with nicknames like, “The Mick” or “Yogi” “Junior” or “Mudcat”.

I’m wondering if anyone out there sees Charlie Sheen as a hero. He is rich and famous, which seems to be the only criteria we use anymore. I don’t begrudge Charlie his money but what’s wrong with us that we put millions of dollars into a TV celebrity and create a foolish person in the process? I suppose one would say Prince William could be a hero. He’s rich and becoming more famous each day. Maybe we need to be more selective when we use that word hero and think of people who are really deserving of the title. When I looked the word up I found not one reference to sports or movies except as the lead male character in a play. It was all about qualities, deeds and courage. While I admire one’s ability to hit a fastball, sink a twenty foot jump shot or serve a tennis ball 150 mph, these folks may not deserve the title. Most of our heroes today are thousands of miles away, living in tents and eating K-rations, although we have many here at Georgia Military College. They go about their day quietly, seldom mention their years of service and continue to serve in their own ways. I spoke to a young marine (one of our students) the other day who will be shipping out this summer for Afghanistan. Something about him, his eyes, his demeanor, and carriage told me he just might be a hero one day soon. He’s a unique individual, one of a kind, just like the rest of us. I hope he comes home whole and to a hero’s welcome. Something tells me Charlie Sheen might not fit in here.