What does it mean to be a hero?

As a child, were you inspired by the stories of knights, supermen, and brave men and women who did wonderful things and changed the world around them? They were your heroes. You admired them, didn’t you? And did you admire them and read stories about them late into the night? Weren’t you inspired by their bravery and were you hoping that you could grow up brave and strong? Weren’t you thrilled by his exploits and charisma?

What do you think now? Who are your heroes? Are they baseball champions or Olympic swimmers? Or perhaps they are explorers and adventurers, crossing the North Pole alone or rowing the Pacific in a two-man boat?

What does it mean to be a hero? Is it someone who fulfills an ambition in a great personal and physical struggle or is it someone who does something for the good of humanity? And why do we all need heroes? What is it that inspires us about certain people and makes us consider them as examples of greatness?

The truth is that we admire the people who make a difference in our lives and, at the same time, overcome personal struggle and difficulties to achieve that goal. We admire your courage and dedication; We aspire to be as courageous and focused as they are to achieve what they set out to do.

So being a hero isn’t necessarily just about achievement. It is the effect their achievement has on the rest of us and what we can learn from the struggle and hardships they went through. They are what we might call exemplars: they are people who demonstrate high standards of character and dedication and who inspire us to achieve the highest we can to emulate them.

However, being a hero is not always front page news or part of the movies. Being a hero can mean working every hour in the sun and earning enough to send your kids to college so they can have a better future than you did at their age. It can be as simple as making sure the seniors in your area are always warm and well fed, or dedicating yourself to improving community amenities and overcoming any obstacles that come your way.

So you can achieve great things like winning an Olympic gold medal if you are fast and become an icon. Or you can achieve great things through strength of character and perseverance, and become a hero. You may doubt your ability to complete the journey, but having the strength of character and purpose to overcome your own fears about completing it, that’s for heroes.

That’s what inspires others: that you waver and doubt your ability to keep going, but then wake up stronger than before, doubly committed to your goal, and keep going to the end.