Hero Worship
by Marie T. Russell
Hero worship has existed "forever"... it
seems that humans have a need to worship someone
or something "greater than" themselves. Whether
we choose to worship an external God figure
(like a saint), or a hero figure from a comic
strip or movie, or the movie stars themselves,
the concept is the same. We look up to someone
else, someone other than ourselves, as "better
than us" or "higher" than we are in our esteem
and opinion.
Webster's has two definitions for hero.
One which is similar to the concept mentioned
above, and that is: a man of great courage,
nobility, etc., or one admired for his exploits.
However, Webster's has a second definition
for hero, and this is the one I'd like us to
consider: the central male character in a novel,
play, etc. (heroine is defined as a girl or
woman hero in life or literature). For the sake
of our discussion, let's consider the word hero
as applying to both males and females.
So a hero is the central figure in a
play... Being that, as Shakespeare so well put
it in "As You Like It",
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts...
then, we are all heroes, or central
figures in our own play. We are the players on
the stage of our life. Yet, many of us insist on
living our lives as if we are a Cinderella type
of main character... you know the one who is
looked down upon, despised, taken advantage of,
not loved, not appreciated, etc. etc. Yet if we
are the hero, then we can take charge of the
situation and plunge ahead and make changes --
we can rescue the fair maiden or lost soul and
raise them (lost parts of ourselves) to a better
life.
I saw a movie recently which raised
several issues concerning heroes. The movie was
Unbreakable with Bruce Willis and Samuel L.
Jackson. In this movie, Bruce Willis discovers
that he is a modern day hero, a superman if you
will. However, what was clear to me after
watching this movie, is that he only became a
superhero or a super-person after accepting that
this was indeed true and possible. He had to
first accept the possibility of this being true
for him and then be willing to experience it.
In the same way, in our own lives, we must
first accept the possibility that we too are a
super hero or a super-person before being able
to make it come true. Just like Cinderella who
had first to be willing to go to the ball to
discover her Prince Charming, so we too need to
first be willing to step out of the dungeon of
our negative thoughts and expectations to meet
our "dream life"... the life we have dreamed of,
but which cannot become reality until we accept
that it is indeed possible and real.
Who is the hero in your own life? If your
hero is someone outside of yourself, then you
have given your power away to someone else. If
you are waiting for someone else to make a
difference in your life (to rescue you, to save
you, to make your life better, to make you
whole), then you are wasting your time. No one
but you can make your dreams come true.
The question that comes up after seeing
Unbreakable is that how would anyone know they
were a hero or had superhuman powers if they
didn't try... How will you know you can fly if
you don't take a leap? (I'm not suggesting you
try this now... this is figurative.) But, the
question remains, how will you know you can
succeed at something is you don't give it a try?
How will you know you can drag yourself out of
the depths of your despair if you don't try? How
do you know you won't get that new job is you
don't apply? How do you know...
Before becoming a success at anything, you
must take that first step. Yet many of us,
convinced of our failure, don't even take that
first step... we don't take the leap into the
abyss of the unknown. One of my favorite images
from a movie is when Harrison Ford steps into
the abyss in
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. He
doesn't see the bridge, but "knows" and trusts
that it is there. And it is only when he has
taken the first step -- the step that will put
him on the bridge, or falling into the abyss if
the bridge is not there -- that he sees the
proof that the bridge is indeed a reality. Only
when is he willing to take the risk does he
become a hero. If he had not been willing to
believe his intuition or his "inner knowledge"
he would have stayed on the edge of the abyss
cowering at the "impossibility" of the feat in
front of him.
How many times do we stay at the edge of
the abysses in our life, cowering with fear
because we don't see the solution? Rather than
take a deep breath and step into the unknown, we
stay securely attached to our security blanket,
to our present reality, to our comfort zone.
Rather than trust that the future will bring us
something, anything, better than what we have
now, we choose instead to hang on to what we
have, even if what we have "ain't so hot".
In "Field
of Dreams" (I'm in a movie
state of mind right now as you can tell), Kevin
Costner plays a hero role -- one in which he
must take his existence in his own hands, and
even in the face of ridicule and doubts, forge
ahead after his own dream, trusting that his
"inner vision" is indeed the one he must believe
in. "Build it and they will come." Build your
dream, follow your wildest hopes and
aspirations, trust in yourself, and the vision
will manifest. Be willing to step off the cliff
of your fears, of your upbringing, or your
limitations. Jump into your future with your
dreams in one hand and your faith in life in the
other. Know that the Universe will always bring
you something better if you are willing to trust
it and "forge ahead". So often, we choose to
stay behind because it is safe -- or at least it
seems safer.
Yet, as the hero in our own life, we can't
stay behind, we can't wait for someone else to
rescue the "underling", we can't close the door
and hope it all takes care of itself. If there
is something in our life we are not happy with,
then we have to take a step forward toward
creating the life we want for ourselves.
Complaining without taking action will not
change anything. You never hear a hero complain
about a situation and then sit back and hope it
changes miraculously. No! A hero (which you are)
may complain at the "bad hand of cards" they've
been dealt, but then goes out to play the best
he can with the cards, and if that doesn't work,
to see if there is another way around the
situation. A hero never gives up. A hero keeps
on, past adversity, past losses, past apparent
defeat, and keeps on until the situation is
resolved.
We are the heroes in our own lives. We
have to pull ourselves up and do what it takes
to make a difference in our own lives, and in
the lives of the people around us, and in the
life of this planet. The time is over when we
waited around for some other hero to rescue
us... All heroes are busy in their own lives. We
must come to our own rescue. As the Lone Ranger
(another famous hero) would say, hi-ho Silver!
And away we go! |
