Finding the right mentor

Humble greetings to those of tattoonow.com, First, I just wanted to say I have the utmost respect for those hard working individuals within the industry (you know who you are), and have a strong appreciation to those who have shaped the industry with their creativity, and artistic abilities. In regards to myself, I possess a fair amount of artistic ability, and trying to get my foot in the door in this business has been an idea I've been entertaining for a few years now. Why haven't I done anything about it? I suppose I feel like my abilities aren't good enough, but I'm working on that, and plan to seek out an apprenticeship after honing my abilities and finalizing a portfolio in the foreseeable future. My question is, what constitutes a suitable mentor? I may be over thinking this a touch, but I feel like I shouldn't want to learn from just ANY "pro" willing to take me in (regardless of the reasons). I want to choose a mentor, who is willing to choose me. I'd like to think that there should be a strong mutual respect there, or maybe I'm bring naive, or just plain wrong? In a nutshell, I wish to know if there are any tips out there which will enable me to find a mentor that is going to have a plethora of knowledge to share. I can't deny, I want to lean, but more importantly, I want to learn the right way. Any guidance, tips, suggestion, and constructive criticism is most welcome. As for the haters, I'm sure you're going to do just that, so I don't mind. though I wouldn't waste the time.