Hidden Heroes — Introduction to The Series
Two posts prior to this, specifically the one on March 8th, we took a stab at “rallying the troops” — for making an appeal to “think” hard about WHO your authentic mentors are — by making the presumptuous, and some might say “dispiriting,” assertion that:
“…the world does need another HERO.“
While it just might be us that are actually willing to SEE and HEAR — with clear eyes and critically-open ears — the foolish antics and head-shaking monkey-business that DOES indeed AFFECT our world, we DOUBT it!
And, we’re also pretty sure, dear fine reader, that ya’d like to DO something about it, if you’re not already. Yup, as crystal-clear sure as we are that we’ll NOT be hitting on 17 at the BlackJack table.
But hey, we already said something like that, didn’t we?
Yeah, well, sorta… maybe 10 days ago, in the midst of hoping to build up an inspiring case of having more Professor Keatings around us, our appeal got clouded— after all, we had to go and sprinkle in politics… one word (Obama) used to represent and put a face to rewarding incompetency (the “bailout”) and, holy moly, STOP THE PRESSES (again!)…. aaaarrrrghhh, the inspiration train got derailed.
Okay, so we’re gonna take a HERO-mulligan, put this puppy back on the green, and try it again.
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Hey, come on already… some leeway is deserved here. Sure, we naturally get juiced-up by taking potshots at the, ahem, anti-hero-like complacency, limiting habits, ho-hum norms, pervasive mediocrity, and dare we say “weirdness” hanging around folks these days.
Or, as Stephen Colbert would say:
We’re just doing our part to find that “attractive vessel through which the river of truth can flow.” (And, no, some guru-like Mary Poppins-sorta nicety like “the truth is within us all” just dun’it cut it).
This time around, our pitch for admiring Heroes in your life is all going to start with, by golly, accentuating the virtues, story, and results of a real-life HERO.
We’re NOT here, this time, to sell you on WHY you, your family, your friends, your dog, or anybody else for that matter NEEDS a HERO.
Noooope, that takes too much work and greases up our soap-box (something, we tend to like, for its slipperiness, anyway) to sometimes unbearable levels. And, like we said before, there’s a song out there that has these words:
“Everybody’s searching for a hero.”
So, we’re just gonna go with that mass conscious validation and be done with it already 🙂 … admittedly, if we would have listened to the words in stillness, we now realize we never would have felt the need to sell you on having one by mentioning anything (regardless of how slight it was) anti-hero in the first place.
So, bottom line:
We’re NOT gonna ask, cajole, or dance around the issue anymore… instead, it’s coming at you in full force, baaaaaby!
At least two people a month that we feel are worthy of our Hidden Heroes Series.
What is such a person?
In our minds, someone brave, daring, and committed to effecting change — not so much by being on center-stage telling, teaching, and inspiring; but, instead by being involved at a grassroots, face-to-face level.
The Heroes we highlight will be everyday, authentic, fallible people who are so busy helping others face adversity, take risks, and stretch limits, that they don’t have a lot of time to be SEEN.
They instill hope and inspiration that anything is possible when your heart is in the right place, you follow your gut/dreams, seek out/focus on solutions, and dream big.
Speaking of dreaming BIG…
There is the story of the kindergarten teacher who asks a child what she is drawing. “I’m drawing a picture of God,” the child replies.
“But, sweetheart,” says the teacher, “no one knows what God looks like.”
“They will in a minute!” says the child.
Now, that is a perfect example of Thinking BIG !!
Big Thinkers possess this childlike faith. Not a childish faith that lacks maturity and understanding, but an attitude of deep faith in themselves.
If you are a big thinker, you have an inner voice that asks, “why not…” and “what if…” and you’re in tune with your own skills, talents, and abilities to SEE the unseen or create the uncreatable.
The foundation of a true Hidden Hero starts at this level.
The triumphs, setbacks, lessons, and make-a-difference qualities of our Hidden Heroes will inspire you to be more, do more… be and do better.
Seeing an example of what is truly possible — what amazing things have already happened — will help you give yourself permission to emulate that, and it then becomes much easier.
But, ya know… here’s the rub (yes, Heather and I will always find something for you to “consider” or think critically about):
Regardless of what I’ve already said above (i.e., about NOT only relying on yourself to find the truth about life), we’re pretty confident in saying this:
You’re never going to appreciate, adore, or much less “get” the Hidden Heroes around (and “outside”) of you UNTIL you first recognize you do indeed have one little mini-me hero “inside” of you.
So, how bout this idea… BEFORE we tell you about Hidden Hero #1 (which will come on Friday, by the way), try this one for size:
After you finish reading this post, go to YouTube, type in “Mariah Carey Hero” (just like that, minus the quotes) and LISTEN to the words of this song.
It rattles the soul in a energetic self-worth sorta way. In other words, you can’t help but be reminded that you must FIRST love your own skills, talents, and abilities BEFORE you can love (or even see) somebody else’s.
So, after you get your fill of Mariah, stay tuned for our post tomorrow where Heather will give you the true account of a man who gave up an envious corporate job and the business fast track, security, a personal life, and his dream of owning a house to change the world through books in the most unlikely places.
An inspiring and brave story !
As one supporter said about tomorrow’s Hidden Hero:
“In every life there are a handful of defining moments, junctures at which you and you alone define the person you become. So much of modern literature is an elegy of regret about failing to recognize these moments or lacking the courage to grasp them. John did neither.”
Your Partner in the Quest For
Living a Life Without Limits,
Filed under: Hidden Heroes
I have three e-mail handles including the one referenced on this comment. For a thousand reasons I have not looked at any of them for the last four to five weeks. Today, compelled by a steel ethereal feeling I logged on to this email handle and looked a the first piece in my inbox-this one. Serendipitous is a word that comes to mind along with two others, “Thank You”.
For all my life I have been more comnfortable to be waiting in the shadows, off-stage, while others collected the glory. Occasionally, thoughts coursed through my mind thinking it would be nice to be in the lime-light but, I lacked the courage to do so. It has been building for several years since the M.S. episode came on in March 2001 and I DO FEEL the time is nigh, it is time for me to fly. It is not that I want or desire adolation. No, simply put, it is time to allow that which has waiting for so long within to be let out-the writer withih. And, to like and love myself as I am not what I once was or who someday I might be.
I will be logged on Friday, March 20 and waiting for your next enmail. Sincerely, …thank yoiu.
David
TRUTH LIKE REAL HEROES WILL BE REVEALED WHEN IT LEAST EXPECTED. JUST BE PREPARE. YOU MIGHT BE A HERO TO SOMEONE. LIFE WILL BE BETTER BECAUSE OF REAL HEROES
We so need heroes as a community, from Superman, to the guy down the street that risks his own life for another, to a different kind of hero that is so behind the curtain that no one knows them except those that are effected by them. Those people, when asked about it, can’t figure out why people are calling them a Hero; they don’t even know that’s what they really are. There is a hero in all of us wanting to get out. I so agree with this post. Truth is I want my hero to come out for my family, friends, and people I don’t know and will never know. What’s funny is when it does come for real I won’t even know it; if I did concider myself to be a hero I would have stepped out of the hero box and into the it’s all about me box. Thinking you’re a hero is much easier than being one. A true hero is a hero because he/she is selfless not because they can fly around in tights and underwear. I leave you with this:
Challenges, strife, and tragedy are the breeding grounds for the unsuspecting hero.
I once dove in an iced over lake to rescue a small dog, the only people that knew were the ones there at the time. The owners we quite old and said I was a hero, but no, anyone would have done what I did without thinking about it.
Firemen, Policemen and others that put their lives on the line for others without thinking are heros…and also those that stand up for the good of others at the risk of being killed off etc etc a bit like William (Bill) Cooper when he wrote beyond a pale horse, I wonder if he knew he would get bumped off when he tried to tell us all about what is really going on …ummm rant over
Like with others sometimes words just draw you to them. It’s late and instead of just passing the email by tonight I opened yours and it was good. It’s been a rough week in many ways and the words I am reading tonight really help. Look forward to the Hero stories and I’ll send a copy out so others can come here and read also. Thanks, Lady J
In Chicago a young teen was killed when guns blazed and he stopped bullets to save family. He is a hero. And his death again calls out appeals to stop the availability of guns on the streets. So many are speaking out again with each death by gunfire,
The teens that learn the hard lesson that life is fragile and death comes too soon, they can be the heros when they go on to succeed in getting a solid education. They can reach for a greater level of personal achievement and make a difference in their own time and place. We can dream and then create reality.
Personally, I think President Obama is a hero.
Lauren
Hi Barry,
Great post!
I like the story about the child and God. It’s that child-like faith which is at the root of all of the great accomplishments of mankind.
Thanks for sharing your insight.
Ryan
The time is rapidly drawing nigh where each of us are going to be personally called upon to stand up for ourselves and the personal liberties and freedoms we have formerly enjoyed. Are you going to be a hero and stand up for your Constitution and your Bill of Rights or will you stand by and let it all be taken from you? We will all see who the real heros are in the days and times to come…
Yeah, I have to agree with Lauren K. – I think Obama is HERO… warts and all … no – not perfect by any means… but a hero. Where would we be if McCain had been elected? Honestly … can’t we see that politics IS part of getting things done? How do we think LAWS GET MADE???
Is it right? Is it the way I’d like it done?
no. But it’s the reality of our culture. So you WORK WITH WHAT YOU HAVE.
yes. and I hate politics. talking true (as my big brother Owen would say).
Elizabeth
I agree that our hero’s are the ones that no one sees most of the time. I’ve been there. I call it tithing. Since I was a child I have been guided to see opportunities to help others, and I have. The only reward I have ever wanted was the feeling it gave me inside. I just knew I made a difference in someone’s life and that it was a good difference. I have done these things throughout my life cosistently, and many times no one ever knew. However, I have received many miracles in my life. Miracles I call them, but I know they all came from the source. Probably the ones I did my tithing for thought the same and then their faith, like mine, was reinforced and strengthened. These little things keep a smile in our hearts and we continue to walk strong, knowing we count.