Ever found yourself putting people you admire on a pedestal – and then face the inevitable, crashing disappointment when they fail to live up to expectations?

When I was a little girl I can remember looking up to so many people with incredible admiration; they didn’t have to do much to gain that admiration either! I was a little girl with a high “believability”  in people.   From the President of the United States, our church pastor, my schoolteacher, to singers on the radio, I found myself putting them on a pedestal; they could do no wrong. Ah, the naiveté of childhood!

As I got a little older I can vividly remember when some of my “pedestaled heroes” began to reveal their true behaviors and this truly devastated me. My expectations and admiration were all based on what I believed to be true about them. For example, I remember when my perfect third grade teacher lost her temper while talking to her colleague in the hallway outside the classroom and cursed like a sailor~ I was just around the corner and heard every word!   Within an instant her pedestal began to crumble!

Growing up meant realizing that all people are humans with flaws and shortcomings. The truth is that it is actually much healthier to live life understanding that we all have areas that keep us humble every day. As much as I loved imagining people without flaws it’s just not who we, as humans, truly are. Because of this we all need people in our lives who know us, stand with us, challenge us, and support us when we come crashing off the pedestals we, or others have placed us on.

At the end of the day, Pedestals are for statues, not humans.