Heroes

This past week I received a Facebook from my sister about a doctor who walked 6 miles through a snow storm to perform emergency brain surgery ( www.huggingtonpost.com ).  He did this to save the patient’s life.  Remarkable.  Selfless.  Self-sacrificing.  A hero.

That got me to thinking about what is the definition of a hero.  I looked it up on my favorite information source online, Wikipedia.  Here is the definition exactly as it appears:

A hero (masculine) or heroine (feminine) (Ancient Greek: ἥρως, hḗrōs) refers to characters who, in the face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness, display courage and the will for self sacrifice—that is, heroism—for some greater good of all humanity. This definition originally referred to martial courage or excellence but extended to more general moral excellence.

But in thinking about it, I believe the definition is a bit more complicated.  Including the previous, I believe there are three types of heroes.  There is what I would refer to as the “situational hero” which is where someone with the right attributes was thrust into a history changing event by being who they are and being in that place at that time.  They also tend to be defined as heroes reflectively as time passes.  This includes in modern history individuals such as Irena Sendlerowa, Mohandas “Mahatma” Gandhi, Mikhail Gorbachev, John F. Kennedy, Miss Jane Pittman, Martin Luther King, Jr., Anne Frank, Nelson Mandela, Larry Kramer, Iqbal Masih and the list is extensive with many examples of courageous and self-sacrificing people.  I encourage you to research any of these names that are unfamiliar to you.

The next group is what I would refer to as the “incidental hero”.  These hero making events are no less dramatic and in some cases, much more dramatic as they are defined by some larger than life single event that defined them as a hero at that moment in time.  Sadly, in many cases it also costs them their lives.  Aitazaz Hassan Bangash, the 14 year old boy in Pakistan who died stopping a suicide bomber is a remarkable example.  Pedro Zamora and Magic Johnson publicly gave a face to HIV/AIDS, which was extraordinarily brave.  All of the firemen and police officers who died in the tragedy of 9/11 and all of those who daily risk their lives to save and protect others.  The heart-wrenching acts of heroism of soldiers to save others and every time I hear of another young person dyeing in wars and conflicts, my heart breaks.

The last group and the most unsung and quiet are what I refer to as the “everyday hero”.  This group of heroes I believe has the most lasting impact on others.  The doctor I spoke of in the opening of this blog post is an example of an everyday hero.  The absolute best example of this type of heroism was defined for me years earlier when I watch the movie based on the book by Amy Tan, The Joy Luck Club.  In the story there is an exchange between the main character June and her mother Suyuan.  She was explaining to her daughter why she was indeed special over her very successful, beautiful and demanding sister.  Suyuan stated (paraphrasing) that while June’s older sister always expected and took the choicest cut of meat at dinner, June always took the least cut of meat.  

I look for the everyday hero.  When you spot them, they are not flamboyant or looking for praise.  They are generally humble or direct in their mission.  Accolades are not what they seek and in fact are generally embarrassed by them.  I would like to think I would have the courage to be an incidental hero, but who knows unless it happened.  Not sure I’m in a place or have the skills to be a situational hero.  So I strive daily to try to be an everyday hero.  It isn't easy and I am sure I fail more often than succeed.  I am so humbled by the sacrifice of others in all three types of heroes.  Find your heroes.  They may be as close as right next to you.

Namaste

"True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic.  It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever the cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever the cost." - Arthur Ashe