As a child, we all had someone we look up to, someone whose steps we would like to follow. Someone we idolize.

For Raphael, that is his older cousin, Kuya Aurel.

Aurel is only 6 years his senior. I must say Rafa chose well, as his Kuya is an exceptional young man. He grew up to be kind, sweet and intelligent. A school achiever, he joins anything and every school activity, and is consistently on top of his class.

This isn't the reason why Rafa looks up to him though. Rafa loves his Kuya so much because his Kuya makes it a point to show how much he cares for Raphael.

He would take the time to show him how certain computer games are played, even download the games himself. Despite the age gap, they would play simple games Rafa enjoys. He would patiently answer all questions of the little one and feed his curiosity.

With a 100+ kilometer distance between our residences, Rafa would often receive calls from his Kuya checking on how he is doing. Whenever sick, his Kuya worries about him and even wants him sent to their home so he can look after Raphael. So much love from a 12-year old!

Of course there are also countless times when their teasing gets out of hand and some crying takes place, but hey, this is normal with kids.

Rafa would normally do things and say, this is how kuya does it. And if I want him to try some new things he is hesitant to do, I leverage on this (for now) and would say, your kuya loves to do this when he was little!, and this would normally do the trick.

This got me thinking, in life, we accumulate a number of role models. Our choices would reflect our ownselves- our values and what we deem important would definitely be the greatest factor at play. We would normally find an association with someone with likeness to ourselves, or with someone who is actually living the us we want to be.

I've inspired a few myself, not really as their role model but rather an appreciation of small things done here and there.

I would always say, whatever I am able to accomplish, anyone can do too! We may not take the exact same steps, or get the exact same things, but rather have the same sense of achievement.

Today I reflect back on who my current role model is. For the past decade I look up to successful women in the corporate world- a clear indicator of what I deemed important. Now, I would need to redefine my role models.

Who is your role model? Take a good look at that person. That is YOU in the future.

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