What does it mean to be a hero?
As a child, were you inspired by stories of knights, supermen, and brave men and women who did wonderful things and changed the world around them? They were your heroes. You admired them, right? And do you admire them and read stories about them until late at night? Weren’t you inspired by his courage and hoped that you could grow brave and strong? Weren’t you moved by his exploits and his charisma?
What do you think now? Who are your heroes? Are they baseball champions or Olympic swimmers? Or maybe they are explorers and adventurers, crossing the North Pole solo or paddling the Pacific in a two-person boat?
What does it mean to be a hero? Is it someone who fulfills an ambition of great personal and physical struggle or is it someone who does something for the good of humanity? And why do we all need heroes? What is it about certain people that inspires us and makes us hold them up as examples of greatness?
The truth is that we admire people who make a difference in our lives and, at the same time, overcome the struggle and personal difficulties to achieve that goal. We admire your bravery and dedication; we aspire to be as brave and focused as they are to achieve what they set out to do.
So being a hero isn’t necessarily just about achievement. It’s the effect his achievement has on the rest of us and what we can learn from the struggle and hardship they went through. They are what we might call exemplary: they are people who demonstrate high standards of character and dedication and who inspire us to achieve as high as we can to emulate them.
However, being a hero isn’t always front page news or the subject of movies. Being a hero can mean working all the hours under the sun and earning enough to send your kids to college so they can have a better future than you did at their age. It can be as simple as making sure seniors in your area are always warm and well fed, or dedicating yourself to improving community amenities and overcoming whatever obstacles stand in your way.
So you can achieve great things like win an Olympic gold medal by being fast and become an icon. Or you can achieve great things through strength of character and perseverance, and become a hero. You may doubt your ability to complete the journey, but have the strength of character and purpose to overcome your own fears about completing it, that’s what heroes do.
That’s what inspires others: that you waver and doubt your ability to continue, but then you get up stronger than before, doubly committed to your goal, and keep going until the end.
