Simply Delicious: What is a Hero?

Saturday, July 30, 2011

What is a Hero?

Heroism as action on behalf of others or in the defense of integrity or a moral cause.

We consider heroic action to be defined by four factors:

It is engaged in voluntarily;
It provides a service to one or more people in need, or the community as a whole;
It involves potential risk/cost to physical comfort, social stature, or quality of life;
It is initiated without the expectation of material gain.

A hero is anyone who can show courage when faced with a problem. A hero is a person who is able to help another in various ways. A person can become a hero by saving someone who is in danger. Another example of a hero is someone who is there to help others and gives them strength to go on through life’s difficulties. A hero can be someone who gave up his or her life so another could live. A hero does not always have to show courage he can be afraid but still be a hero through his other actions.

When you take a good hard look at your own personal life, what do you see? How many times can you recall has there been someone or a group of people nearby to assist you when you needed it, or who took the time to do something good for you asking for absolutely nothing in return? Most of us can save never....or rarely. I can say that I have many hero's. I was raised to be a loving giving person. I was taught at an early age that when you do good for others it comes back. I am a true "karma" believer.

I married at a young age and thought that I knew everything. What 19 year old doesn't? Life is a whole different ball game once you get into the real world and you are not shielded/protected from your loved ones. You begin to see life in a whole new perspective, somewhat scary I might add. I learned that if you never make mistakes you can't possibly learn from them. If you don't try, how can you know if you would fail or not, and if you do fail, it means that you just simply must get back on that horse and try riding it again! Practice makes perfect.

My angels, my hero's are my kids, and my parents and my grandparents that gave me such love and showed me that life is so precious. I was ill and my kids pushed me to get better, I was divorced and my kids made me see how important the real job of being a mother was, as I had to play both mom and dad. I didn't think that my kids even noticed the sacrifices that I made to make certain that they had what they needed.....not until they began to grow up and mature themselves. When they were kids there were times when I felt I could beat my head against a wall and wondered would any one notice? Such a silly thing to say....of course they noticed. Everyday they supported me, encouraged me and pushed me to my limits. Why? To piss me off? NO, to show me how strong I really am. Had it not been for my kids and battling a divorce, and then cancer on more than a few occasions I might be like anyone else....but I'm not. I learned to never take anyone or anything for granted again. In the past, I had. Today I must admit I'm not very proud of some of my actions of my past. Did I learn something? You bet that I did!

Each day I learned more about who I was and grew as a woman, a mother, a daughter and a friend.

Today, I am an image of my parents now in their late 60s/early 70s and my children now 27 and 25 are an image of me. My creations, my miracles of life, my reason for living.....my inner strengths, my happiness and my rock. They are and have always been my glue. They are why I push myself to the limits each and everyday. They are my hero's. Who are yours? Have you sat back lately and really taken a good hard look at who has made such an impact in your life? Who may have been that one person or a group of people that helped you when your world was turned upside down? Perhaps you should.....these people, our so called hero's....they don't want thanked, in fact they probably don't even see themselves as our hero's...but we know differently. No, our hero's don't fly through the sky at the speed of light, and they don't wear a red cape....but they are a hero in every sense of the true meaning.