Be Your Own Hero

photo credit: oneyearchallengeblog.org

The concept of what the word 'hero' stands for can often be relatively exaggerated. Growing up,  I was a huge fan of virtually every superhero cartoon shown on local TV.  From popular ones like Spider Man, Superman, to less heralded one's Freakazoid, Popeye etc. There's one thing I learned from this cartoon variety; 'Every hero must possess an extraordinary out-of-this-world superpower'.

Peter Parker got bitten by a genetically engineered spider, Clark Kent was a kryptonite superpower while Popeye power is aided by a tin of spinach to mention but a few. Is this all there is to be a superhero? Well, I thought so. 

However, my orientation took a massive re-branding after the just concluded Access Bank Lagos City Marathon. Before you get carried away, I didn't participate (run) in any of the subcategory events (though I wish I did). I was only there for the glitz and glamour and of course jump on the social media trends. I met with a few people there and I even bumped into an old school friend, pseudo-named Chuks, who participated in the 42km category. We spoke briefly after the completion of the race and I was inspired by some of the things he said which in-turn birthed this piece. I have always known him to be a lover of football (featured a few times for our department's football team) and meeting him at such event was a bit surprising. 

"I have always wanted to make a mark with sports. I still want to do that through football but I'm open to making headways via any other sporting fields.", he said 

He was unfortunate to have sustained a knee injury halfway down the race which robbed him of the star prize he had targeted for himself. 

"I would have come top if not for this injury. I will not relent till I achieve my sporting dream.", he confidently added.

We could not talk for long and I watched him disappear into the sea of heads that have gathered to collect the paltry medals for their attempts. 

Oh.. I forgot to add, Chuks is practically a very short man with a big dream.. lol. He is very much disadvantaged to make a cut at any chosen sporting field but he made me realize that you don't have to be super endowed to be your own hero. He is convicted to lead a less trodden path to success. The journey may be rough now but I bet he will smile soonest (like he did after he got his medal). 

A hero is a person admired for courage, outstanding achievements, and noble qualities. Being your own hero may largely dwell on the need for personal fulfillment, however, the status could also be achieved via a valuable contribution to a societal need or creating a solution.

There is something synonymous with people you find at a newspaper stand. They all have a near-perfect idea of how to rule and make things better but you will hardly find them making positive changes within their space. The clarion call for a hero is now loudly blared more than ever all around the world and everyone seems to have that perfect assuaging solution. But the real question is, how many of such great thoughts have you successfully employed to alleviate your life and immediate environment? Same question I asked myself and I was able to morph out these points.

How then can I be a Hero?

1. Save yourself: Only a man with a heroic spirit will rise up to the challenge of personal and societal menace. But first, such person has to be able to successfully maneuver self-limiting shackles. I watch people struggle with this a whole lot (myself inclusive). We all love to be the saviour of the world in our little way, even to the extreme detriment of ourselves. This is particularly applaudable but not a great approach to life. More like the popular Yoruba saying, "Gbe t'elomi Sori kio ma ru tie s'owo" - literally translated as "Bundling people's problems on your head and casually dragging yours along". Better understood as "Drowning yourself while trying to resolve people's issues and relegating yours to the background." The result of this approach is pretty obvious. You may become a heralded messiah but you'd be struggling to get yourself out of life sinking sand. Of course, this may portray one as being selfish and unreasonable. But here lies the truth, you would never truly maximize your purpose in life if all you provide solutions to other external situations but wouldn't even spare a conscious and actionable thought to fix and build yourself. A well-defined balance should be struck between personal gains and public appreciation.

2. Look Within: You can't truly be a harbinger of peace if your life is stormy. You may be able to proffer ideas that work but they would remain questionable if you - the profferer - live a contrary life. More like a man bald man giving a speech on How to Make Your Hair Grow Faster. Hilarious, right? No matter how daft a man is,  his problems are always evident to him. You should be able to alleviate your unpleasant situation or device means to lift yourself out of your pitiable condition. This can be better accomplished by evaluating your lifestyle, picking out the tiny things you are struggling to overcome -addiction, laziness, procrastination, lying, lateness, poor diet or hygiene etc - that pertains to your ideology or life scope and work towards overcoming each and everyone. Guess what, this not only refreshes and reinvigorates you but spurs you to impart people (with same or more) at every given opportunity. You can only give what you really have.

3. Limitations, they don't exist!: A man can only record a reasonable amount of self-fulfilling success the day he discovers that limitations only exist in the imagination. Great traits like resolute belief, unwavering bravery, unrelenting character and resilient actions can only be picked up on the road to the hall of fame. However, one can only obtain mastery of these if any - of the aforementioned attributes - have been personally employed to smartly scale through the high walls of limitation. You shouldn't see limitation as an alibi for cowardice but a springboard to greater success. Then can you truly arrive as a deserving hero.

I leave you with this awesome quote by Bob Riley. 

"Hard times don't create heroes. It is during hard times when the 'hero' within us is revealed"

Until I come your way again, do not stop believing in yourself. Be Your Own Hero!