Who do you want to be today?

So challenged by Bogha Frois to take action after I note difficulties, this morning I sat down and made a list of role models: those individuals whom I think have characteristics worthy of emulating in part. None of this (with the exception of the first) is without flaw, but it is an interesting point of departure.

1) Jesus Christ - Saviour, Messiah, Son of God

Then, in no particular order:

2) John Bunyan (1628-1688): Christian Writer and Preacher. Wrote widely; his most famous book is Pilgrim's Progress.
3) Miyamoto Musashi (1584 - 1645): Japanese Swordsman. Author of A Book of Five Rings.
4) Nehemiah (active 444-424 BC): Cupbearer to Artaxerxes I; rebuilt walls of Jerusalem.
5) Ruth (ca. 1146-1105 BC): Biblical book and character; great grandmother of King David.
6) Esther (active 483-473): Biblical book and character; queen of Xerxes I, Persian King
7) Crazy Horse (1842 - 1877): War leader of the Lakota Sioux.
8) Leonidas son of Anaxandridas (ca 540 - 480 BC): Agiad King of Sparta; led the Three Hundred to the Pass of Thermopylae.
9) Marcus Porcius Cato (234 - 148 BC): Roman Statesman and Censor. Author of On Farming.
10) Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790): American statesman, inventor, scientist, politician, political theorist, diplomat, businessman, and author.
11) George Washington (1732 -1799): American General, Farmer, and President.
12) Elijah (Active ca. 870-855 BC): Hebrew Prophet.
13) Colum Cille (Columba) of Iona (521-597): Irish missionary monk to the Picts.
14) Gene Logsdon (Current): American man of letters, critic, and farmer. Author of numerous books.
15) Marin Luther (1483 - 1546): German monk, theologian, reformer, university professor and author.
16) John Carter - Warlord of Mars. Fictional character of Edger Rice Burroughs.
17) Michael Collins (1890 - 1922): Irish revolutionary leader, politician, Director of Intelligence for the IRA, and Commander in Chief of the National Army.
18) Theodore Roosevelt (1858 - 1919): American president, governor, historian, naturalist, explorer, author, and soldier.
19) CS Lewis (1898 - 1963): Irish author and scholar. Most famous for The Chronicles of Narnia.
20) Alexius Comnenus I (1048 - 1118): Byzantine Emperor. Founder of the Comnenus dynasty.

So there you have it. Even as I write them, I begin to see patterns: military, honor, leaders, farmers, authors. Even seeing this, I need to go a little deeper: Why do I admire these people? What is it about them that I would seek to emulate?