Keep looking towards the stars for heroes
I have been thinking a lot lately about heroes, about how important they are and what a dearth there currently seems to be.
We need heroes. We need people who inspire us, who expand and elevate our sense of possibility both personally and as members of broader communities. The prototypical hero displays bravery, sacrifice, conviction, risk-taking, and moral integrity for an honorable purpose. Sound like anyone you know? Sound like someone you’d like to know?
Heroes — be they superhuman or just one of us mortals — provide us with hope. And hope is key to motivating us to move forward, and helping us through difficult times.
Our heroes are symbols for us of all the qualities we would like to possess and all the ambitions we would like to satisfy. And since our beliefs shape our reality, the heroes we choose make a profound difference to each of us and to society as a whole.
So I look around for heroes among us. It doesn’t have to be through grand gestures, although those are truly inspirational (like the airline pilot who safely landed a plane in the Hudson River).
I had a moment of inspiration and hope recently as I watched a new documentary on the Mayo Clinic, and I now include Dr. William Mayo and his sons, William and Charles, among my heroes. I was so moved by the humanity of its founders and their “value-based organization.” People living in accordance with their highest values and principles, working to make the world a better place: This fills me with joy and hope. And it changes the world for the better.
Scott Allison is a psychologist who studies heroes and the effects of heroism. Heroes save or improve lives, and are inspiring, but he says we also need heroes for reasons that go beyond the direct benefits of heroic action.
Heroes:
elevate us emotionally
heal our psychological ills
build connections between people
encourage us to transform ourselves for the better; and
call us to become heroes and help others.
Heroes do not have to be perfect. But they show us what an admirable human being can be and accomplish, even with faults.
One of my biggest concerns about the current administration in Washington, D.C., is how low the bar has been set. There is so much pain and suffering in the world that many of us are becoming so desensitized that hardly anything seems shocking or repulsive anymore. Behavior that at other points in time would be considered unacceptable in a leader is now brushed aside.
Is this OK with you? Is it OK that, in 601 days, our president made 5,001 false or misleading claims? Is it OK that we have a president who brags about grabbing women’s genitals, had an affair with a porn star after his wife gave birth to his son, and has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than 20 women? Is it OK that we have a president who admires dictators, and has announced that he and the sadistic dictator Kim Jong un have fallen “in love?”
Don’t we have a right — and a responsibility — to have the people representing us be people who embody the best values of our culture? People who help elevate us, have our best interests in mind, who help make our country continually better rather than sinking us deeper into mediocrity?
It’s easy to slip into cynicism and despair. But we can make a different choice. We can hold our president and elected officials to a higher standard. We need some heroes.
Oscar Wilde made the observation “We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars.” There will always be struggles and hard times, but we can still choose to look up — to choose hope, and a better world.
The midterm elections are right around the corner. Don’t squander your vote by not voting. Whether you vote for Democrats or Republicans, make a choice to support candidates who stand for something positive. Become a hero in your own life. And keep looking up.