“My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys,” is a reminder of some of my childhood heroes. Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers, Lash La Rue, Gene Autry, Annie Oakley, Wild Bill Hickock, and The Lone Ranger and Tonto, served as examples of how I wanted to live my life. Honor, integrity, and respect were exemplified by the way these cowboys lived their life. These heroes were very real to me and I strived to live the perfection they portrayed on the screen. They each lived by the Cowboy Code. One example was Gene Autry’s Cowboy Code:
- A cowboy never takes unfair advantage – even of his enemy.
- A cowboy never betrays a trust. He never goes back on his word.
- A cowboy always tells the truth.
- A cowboy is kind and gentle to small children, old folks, and animals.
- A cowboy is free from racial and religious intolerance.
- A cowboy is always helpful when someone is in trouble.
- A cowboy is always a good worker.
- A cowboy respects womanhood, his parents and his nation’s laws.
- A cowboy is clean about his person in thought, word, and deed.
- A cowboy is a patriot.
(If you are interested in reading the other cowboy rules for life, just run “The Cowboy Code” in your Internet search engine and they all pop up.)
Life was simple, there were the good guys and the bad guys, good versus evil, and the guy with the white hat always won because he was an honorable person and that allowed him to overcome the dishonorable acts and deeds of the villain.
As kids, my friends and I would take on the identity of our favorite cowboys or cowgirls as we played in the world of make believe. Nobody ever wanted to be the bad guy, in our world of cowboys and Indians only the good guys were portrayed.
As I grew out of childhood and into an adult, I think many of the lessons learned from these childhood idols continued to mold me into the person I became. I think it also played a role in my self image when I was unable to live up to the cowboy code. I know that I broke every one of the rules of the cowboy codes and I beat myself up for being a failure.
On the other hand, when I drank, I could fool myself into believing what a great and wonderful person I had been. Those after shift get-togethers with my fellow cops allowed me to believe the lies I told myself. It was a tough world and I was the big gun in town. I was protecting people from the sinister deeds of the guys in the black hats. Looking back at it, I was probably one of those cowboys who spent most of their time sitting around the saloon in the middle of the day.
When my life was held in the balance and God was showing me the way out, the miracle happened. A support group was born that would shape the way I lived the rest of my life. A new set of heroes emerged that helped me through my new code for living. A set of 12 simple Steps that gave me a new way to live. My new heroes walked with me and taught me the meaning of the words, honor, respect and integrity. Deena R., Bob D., John H., Marty W., Ed S., Janice R., Butch R., and countless others too numerous to mention, became the heroes and icons I wanted to emulate.
Today I look for progress not perfection and I have learned how to forgive myself when I fail to live up to the Cowboy Code or the Twelve Steps.
If you have not yet found this wonderful way to live. If you want to find the peace that comes with this style of living, find a sponsor
and learn how to work the Twelve Steps. Find your heroes in this simple program and inherit life once again.
Thanks for letting me share!!!
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