Could it be we're looking in the wrong places [for heroes]? If we overlooked the astronauts 36 years ago, whom might we overlook now?"---Isoida Motley

You can imitate the courage of a Davy Crockett, but how can you imitate the looks of a supermodel or the fame of a superstar?

Our best heroes are still ordinary people, people who--because of their courage, integrity, faith and compassion--do extraordinary things every day.

Do you have heroes? People you look up to? People who inspire you to follow in their footsteps? People who make you believe that you can be heroic too?

Or are you like the majority of Americans who, according to "Life" magazine, have trouble finding real heroes in today's world. "In 1997, 63 percent of Americans said there were fewer heroes than in the past," writes Isoida Motley, Managing Editor of "Life."

So where have all the heroes gone? According to Motley, who is writing in the aftermath of John Glenn's triumphal return to space, the same attitudes were around in the '60s. Motley's argument is that present-day heroes may be unnoticed rather than unavailable. After pointing out that the first astronauts appeared on none of the popular most-admired lists of the '60s, he asks, "Could it be we're looking in the wrong places? If we overlooked the astronauts 36 years ago, whom might we overlook now?"

Motley is right of course, but why? Why are we looking in the wrong places for our heroes? I have a couple of ideas.

First of all, part of the reason we're looking in the wrong places for our heroes may be that we're looking for the wrong things in our heroes. In "Beyond Identity" Dick Keyes tells a story of two women talking over their back fence: "One asked the other, 'What do you think of Mrs. So and So?' After a long pause, the second woman responded cautiously 'I think she's a good person.' With a look of satisfaction the first woman replied, 'That's what I thought you would say. I don't like her either.'"

Keyes then draws his conclusion: "Moral goodness today is often portrayed as something unheroic, unattractive, deadly dull, excruciating." Keyes' point is that present-day heroes are no longer heroic for things like courage (Davy Crockett), honesty (Abraham Lincoln), or faithfulness to a friend (Huckleberry Finn, and, yes, fictional characters count). Rather today's heroes are admired for things like athletic ability (Michael Jordon), wealth (Athina Onassis), beauty (Cindy Crawford), or simply celebrity status (Robin Leach).

Keyes says that, rather than inspire, these kinds of heroes tend to frustrate us. You can imitate the courage of a Davy Crockett, but how can you imitate the looks of a supermodel or the fame of a superstar? You can't. You may admire them, but they leave you feeling unsuccessful, frustrated, and ashamed.

So if we're going to spot heroes that inspire us, we're going to need to look for the right stuff, moral character as opposed to beauty and wealth. We're also going to have to look in the right places.

According to Keyes, most of us look for heroes today among the famous. "To be famous is to be heroic," he writes. Keyes says that, while in a simpler time people became famous because they were heroic, today they are more likely to be perceived as heroic because they are famous.

Yet "real greatness is often hidden, humble, simple and unobtrusive," writes Canadian Henri Nouwen. I agree; don't you? Think of the heroes who have stood the test of time. Most were unnoticed, even persecuted in their own day.

So where have all the heroes gone? Whom can we look to for midlife inspiration? The answer is they haven't gone anywhere. Our best heroes are still ordinary people, people who--because of their courage, integrity, faith and compassion--do extraordinary things every day.