When I was growing up when I heard the word hero I thought of Superman and Batman like most kids do. Now as I got older I developed a new understanding of what the word hero meant. I think as we have developed as a world the word has taken on a different meaning as well. In Greek literature a hero was someone that was remarkably brave and could defeat any challenge that was put in their path. People told these stories to get their minds off of what was really going on in their lives. It was also to give people hope in their lives.
While Super heroes are not really the do stand for something and have a meaning in everyone lives. For example, Captain America was created during World War II. Steve Rodgers (Captain Americas alias) was originally this wimpy kid that had the heart of a lion and wanted nothing more then to kill some Nazis. He was turned down time after time because of his physical appearance. Then after some science experiments and some strange syringes full of who knows what he was given the physical status of the perfect solider. It showed that as long as you have the heart you can do anything in your life. Captain America also gave the American people hope during the War. He was running around killin Nazis and kicking Hitlers teeth in on a weekly basis. Notice how in a lot of stories the hero is almost always an underdogs? Luke, Frodo, Harry all modern day heroes all underdogs. Is that because we love an underdog story? Or is it because we all want to be those heroes, when we read Lord of the Rings we like to picture ourselves in that and put their journeys into our own lives. Super Hero creator and legend Stan Lee said "While no one is expected to leap tall buildings in a signal bound, our aspiring heroes will be tested on their courage, integrity, self-sacrifice, compassion, and resourcefulness- the stuff of all true Super Heroes." I agree with Mr. Lee that those are the quality that real life heroes posses.
Some people will tell you that there is a hero in all of us. I agree and disagree with that statement. I believe that there is a potential hero in all of us but you have to make the decision to bring out that hero. One of my all time favorite quotes comes from a famous line from Spider-Man "With great power comes great responsibility." Basically if you have the ability to make a difference you also have the duty too. Now this an imperfect world so obviously people are greedy and do not all in their power to help others. Now while it may not be doing a lot even something as simple as donating to charity can make you a hero to someone. You are using your power to help others, you are being selfless to help other people. Now I think in someways even this has been perverted in out society. I think if famous people really wanted to help just to help they would do it completely anonymously. Now there money and services still help but they are doing it for their own glory and not to just help people.
There are still heroes in todays world though so don't fear. First lets start with our Military. They constantly make personal sacrifices to help millions of people they will never meet in their entire lives. These people deserve our upmost respect all of the time they are true heroes. Then we have our public safety personnel. These are police offices, firefighters. These people go out every day risking their lives for people they don't know. They are willing to make the greatest sacrifice to ensure our safety. Now there are also other types of heroes to many to go over in this already extremely long post.
Just leave with these thoughts. While we may all not have the ability to sling webs or have super strength we all do have the ability and responsibility to help people. Even the smallest act of kindness can change someones life. So make sure you remember this next time you see someone that needs help or if you feel a calling for something bigger then that follow it if that is what you really want.
Always love and happy thoughts,
Jacob Clyde
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