Yes, I overheard someone say that. "He is not a hero because ..." Because why? Says who? And why are you so afraid of the word hero?
A hero is not going to campaign for the "God-shaped-hole" in your heart. He is not going to love your children more than you know how. He is not going to steal your wife or even bruise your ego. He is not a hero because you do or don't say so, or do or don't like him. He is a hero because he has done something for someone else, probably someone who has nothing to do with you. And survival against all odds is heroic, because it gives hope to others.
In Don Knotts style, let's get technical. "Take your World War II. There were many heroes in World War II. What were your heroes? Who were your heroes?" (The Ghost and Mr. Chicken. Great movie, by the way.) But seriously. What is a hero, anyway?
According to dictionary.com, the first meaning of the word is:
1. A man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.
But it's the second meaning, I think, that's more poignant:
2. A person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal: He was a local hero when he saved the drowning child.
"In the opinion of others." This second meaning allows anyone to be a hero, regardless of what those deeds might be, and whether or not anyone else recognizes him as a hero. This definition allows your mother to be your hero, because you say so. It allows the homeless man outside Wal-Mart to be a hero because that's your opinion. It allows an ordinary human being to be a hero because he has touched you, or someone you know, in a way that no one else has, and maybe no one else would understand.
A hero is not a hero because the world notices what he did. He's a hero because I think so, you think so, or your neighbor thinks so. Stop being afraid of people who touch lives. Stop feeling like you have to correct how other people feel.
My suspicion, deep down, is that if you fear the word hero, you are afraid not only because no one has ever been your hero, but you have never allowed yourself to be a hero for someone else. It does not take "great deeds" (although those who do great deeds are often heroes for it!); all it takes is a little compassion, empathy, or notice. All it takes is to keep pushing when you've run out of strength. All it takes is to live another day when you want desperately to die.
A guy named Ronald Regan, some of you still know the one, said, "Those who say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look."
Start looking, Stop begrudging. Heroes are everywhere, and they make the world--your world--a better place.
A guy named Ronald Regan, some of you still know the one, said, "Those who say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look."
Start looking, Stop begrudging. Heroes are everywhere, and they make the world--your world--a better place.
