We Are Heroes

“A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” — Christopher Reeve

Unfortunately, I’m at that age where a hero for me is not someone extremely powerful fighting on the good side against the evil anymore. I’d never really thought what this concept meant to me before working on the Hero Research Project. But now I know for sure: anyone can be a hero. It’s never been about physical abilities but about inner strength. Every single person has their own path with obstacles to overcome, and whether they do it or not depends primarily on them. The difficulties they faced that didn’t stop them, the pain they endured though they still managed to go on, and the failed challenges they gained experience from: those are the things that make one a hero. Thus, when asked “Who’s Your Hero?” I’d probably say “Me” without having to apologize for being narcissistic because, in my opinion, you CAN be your own hero, because, at the end of the day, you’re always going to have yourself, the only person who’ll never let you down.

As a complementary quote to the one above, I’d like to recite F. Scott Fitzgerald. “Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy.” Now, I’m eager to know what Mister Fitzgerald meant by that but I understand it like this: that everyone called a hero has faced or will face a certain tragedy that has influenced or will influence their decision-making abilities and shape their character. That disaster is sort of unavoidable, you can’t escape from it. People go through heartbreaking things every day and those events obviously greatly affect them, but again, that’s what makes them stronger (not always though). And from this point we come back to the first quote: when these individuals choose to continue their fight, when they work on their struggles and goals despite this tragedy always being present in their life — they become a hero.

I hope it makes sense.

Thank you,

Anita