Where True Heroes Live !

     

We all grow up with heroes or heroines in our lives. Hopefully for many of us, as they were for me, your parents are your heroes. Along the way we pick up people we describe as heroes such as sports figure, Pele or Bobby Orr for me, or astronauts, Neil Armstrong, or leaders such as those I wrote about in my “Guess Whose Coming to Dinner” post. All of these people certainly have heroic qualities in their fields of excellence and set a standard to be looked up to as you grow.

What we seem to miss as we transform from our youth to adulthood and develop into the  parental and leadership roles we assume is where our true heroes lay. They lie within ourselves. The most important role model and hero in your life is the one you see in the mirror everyday. We all have challenges and obstacles we have to overcome in our lives. And we often look to others for advice and counsel on meeting these difficult moments. The fact is however, that no matter how much great advice and how many good ideas we get from others, we control our story. Destiny is in our hands not the hands of others.  

Being your own hero is not about being selfish or not caring about your role in your community of people. It is about remembering that while you are helping others and being a hero for them, you must take care of the hero within. We each are part of a larger story, one of commitment, learning, understanding and our own personal physical and emotional health. We have to be strong in our beliefs and knowledge that we can only make a difference by being the best at being ourselves. 

I have a close friend that battles this inner battle everyday. A caring and loving person that takes care of many people in her life and brings them happiness and peace. She is a leader in many amazing ways and is a heroine for her family and friends. And I have a family member battling a disease that will take much commitment and inner strength to overcome. They are not alone in these battles. The world has become fast paced, with ever more demands on time and higher levels of expectations. Within all of these challenges we have to have the strength to call upon our personal hero to overcome. And we can, by knowing that we are in control of us. Not letting others dictate what our lives should be or where our stories should go. 

Be your own hero today and write your story as one you would like others to read.