“Not everyone can be a hero!” That is why being a hero is so special. Saving a person from a burning house requires an instant decision – helping an old lady cross a street with crazy traffic and no lights happens at the spur of the moment. Being a hero is not something you can plan.

A certain mindset and spirit are needed though and these can be worked on. All it takes is knowing why you do what you do and not doing things for a flaky reason, to get some credit, to feel validated or to be admired. Not that trying to get those things is not a valid quest, but life is capricious: if you are in need of these things and you work your butt off to get them, life plays a trick on you. It seems like you are heading for an ever receding horizon.

Be a Hero… Be Your Self!

Doing the things for the sake of itself is what is needed to be successful. Saving a person from a burning house because your heart goes out to that person. You feel that and instantly react to that feeling of compassion. Getting that lady safely on the other side of the street, where she isn’t so fast anymore, is the one and only thing that matters in that moment. Then, later people admire you for it, but that is not why you did it.

All it takes, is not being dependent on the outcome of your actions because you do not need that validation as a substitute for your Sense of Self (SoS!). You are already fully aware of yourself and know that whatever you do or not do, you are and remain you: your self!

Still, it is less easy than it sounds for many of us. You are lucky if you had parents with a Healthy Sense of Self, because chances are they passed it on to you. But what about all of us who were less fortunate. All of us who were brought up by parents who were less strongly aware of themselves and who were dependent on their actions and behavior to “Feel-good-about-themselves?”

We have to educate ourselves, teach ourselves to sense our self. That way, we too, can be a hero and be there to serve others, our country or a cause to our liking. Today of all days, is a great day to make that commitment to your self, for your own sake and for the sake of your loved ones.

BE A HERO – BE YOURSELF!

Happy 4th of July 2016 to y’all!