The Hero you are

What exactly is a hero?  We have examples of them everywhere, but these examples, in my opinion, are very narrow.  They often imply that a hero makes no mistakes or has no faults.  The only flaws they have are being too generous, holding the whole world up that they forget about the moon.  That's probably why most hero's or legends have to be exposed to a supernatural idea, setting, or privilege.   

Our society holds heroic candidates to this unrealistic expectation that no human can ever measure up. Would Abraham Lincoln be a legend if he hadn't been president?  What about Michael Jordan, if he was just a baseball player and not the world's greatest basketball player? How about Superman, what if he had never come to earth at all? He would be considered "average" on his home planet filled with super humans. Think about Spiderman and the radioactive spider bite. Without that bite he wouldn’t have the great powers he had, much less the great responsibility. Everything has to be just right for the stars to align to bring the Hero into view.

Our want to be admired and respected drives our fascination with superhero movies and comics to be like these hero's. We want to see ourselves in Batman, the Hulk, or Deadpool, and we overshoot the actual definition for the human hero. People who strive for the "hero" label and don't understand this are disappointed and disappoint those cheering them on when they fall.  When they fail, the "hero" label is taken away, and the more times they fall, the harder it takes to get that label back.  

Merriam-Webster defines a hero as "a person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities, a person who is greatly admired, the chief male character in a story, play, movie, etc." (Merriam Webster). Reading these definitions makes me want to throw my laptop out the window.  Even Merriam Webster or whoever makes these definitions up are tethered to the concept I explained above.  I'd like to propose that the definition of "hero" is highly subjective.  Some "heroes" are not even noticed or remembered to be greatly admired, and most brave acts are not ever recorded, much less observed to be labeled as courageous acts.  The yin and yang of fine and bad qualities are true for hero's and non-hero's. Just like a hero has fine qualities, they also have bad qualities.  And lastly, I know more heroes who are women than men.  As a man writing this, I admire all women for just being women and the struggles they have to endure. 

Don't get me wrong. The classic hero should be respected and held in high regard.  The firefighters, law enforcement, and military protecting us by heading toward danger to keep others safe should be celebrated as hero's.  These people make a fine example of being altruistic and putting others before themselves.  People that follow their dreams and achieve high levels of success should also be admired.  They make it look easy and inspire others to follow their dreams, whether different or the same.  Fathers and Mothers who live for their children and do anything for them are hero's to their children and other onlookers.  All these classic heroes are rightfully put in the spotlight and bloom for everyone to see, and most of the time, their faults are hidden from view.  If and when their flaws are shown, they are thrown back down and shamed. But most of the times these heroes are well celebrated and rightfully so.  The hero I am celebrating in this open letter is the hero no one sees.  The hero not shown because they are overshadowed.  The hero not acknowledged. The hero in pain. The hero who is not in the spotlight for all to see.  The hero that has faults and has made mistakes but keeps going whether their head is down or not.  The hero that fights just to be kicked down and get up again, never giving up.  The average Joe that doesn't have the right direction but does what they can.  The hero I'm celebrating in the letter is YOU! And whether you are a celebrated hero or overlooked you are only human.  By being human, you are supposed to have faults and good qualities.  My definition of a hero is anyone that fights.  So, pat yourself on the back, you wonderful hero, because when we all die, we take nothing with us but our faults.