What Hero Do You Most Admire And Why?
I spend hours writing all this stuff and then it sort of disappears into the digital wilderness. I hear from some people in the comments and some people email me to tell me how something has made a difference in their life, but there are many Readers that I never interact with.
So I had an idea that we could work on something together this week that would help me get to know you a little better and hopefully then my writing will be more relevant to you. And I think if you go right through this process it could well create a shift in your thinking.
Because when we understand the reasons underlying our instinctive likes and dislikes we develop a higher level of awareness and this then permeates through into our everyday life and helps us to live more consciously and so be less swayed by our conditioning.
Anyway, here’s the idea to start with…
When I’m writing, I often try to come up with a living example of what I’m talking about. Or maybe I will try to point out how someone who I think you might look on as a hero has encapsulated that quality.
photo credit: valentinapowers
But I’m limited in the examples that I use to my biased views. So I use the same old examples over and over again. So in order that my writing is most relevant to you, I would like you to answer these two questions to find out;
1. Who are the people that you look up to?
2. What is it about them that you most admire?
Louise Weiss
breaking the boundaries
my mother and step-father because of all the sacrafice… all the stregth… love and support… because the fact that I'm 36 and they are still there to help me when needed… they are my heros… through and through
the poets, the artists the musicians.. anyone that sets out to offer something different, that challenges the expected..
Bob Dylan
The Specials
Pollock
Warhol
Barrack Obama..well so far so good anyway!
COURAGE
Joan D'Arc for one. "Consider this unique and imposing distinction. Since the writing of human history began, Joan of Arc is the only person, of either sex, who has ever held supreme command of the military forces of a nation at the age of seventeen" Mark Twain
St Theresa
Nelson Mandela for serving 27 years (something like that) in prison and emerging as a forgiving and compassionate human being.
Victor Frankl for overcoming the humiliation and deprivation of the concentration camp.
Bhudda, Don Miguel Ruiz, Byron Katie for giving us such inspiring teachings and example.
Your man in the video.
Colin McRae
All round nice guy. Full on commitment. Awesome talent. R.I.P.
My "second Mom" Gwen, also my Dad's wife of 17 years. She combined two families of adult children with love and acceptance. When her daughter chose drugs and an unhealthy lifestyle over her young kids and husband, Gwen continued to aid her son-in-law and grandkids. He is now remarried and it is he, his wife and both their kids who join us at all family gatherings. Weather "blood" or "blended", families stick together from glue that people like Gwen create.
My oldest sister. Her strength in rasing two hyper little boys while her husband des nothing and she is getting separation papers. Also finally not tolerating his domestic abuse.
Audey Murphy, a hero in the real world.Self sacrifice without consideration.Then he did movies.
There are two "types" of people whom I most admire. One could be describe as a lot like you, Rob. My husband and Native American friend are of this type. Straight talking, certain, dependable. They're the "rocks." The other type are my more spiritual friends. I'd include authors like Anne Lamott who shares her quirks and struggles with honesty and humor, and then those other authors and friends who share the mystery (and sometimes misery) of the human longing for something more…truth, connection, awe, befuddlement, confusion, understanding. Either way, people you'd call both REAL and Deep.
[...] for your great comments. It’s been fascinating to read everyone’s comments on which hero they most admire. [...]
I do not like te concept of hero.
Maybe someone can be extra-ordinary or special. And maybe I even can admire some person for his thinking or initiative or for some other reason. But also the persons, that I deeply respect (and as such admire) are humans and not Superman / Spider or hero.
I do not like the concept hero because it is for me an easy get-away :" Do not expect challenging behaviour from me because I am not a hero. He is a hero, ask him to do special things".
So I prefer to look at persons in a realistic way. If I can compare the actions of other 'normal' people with my behaviour, I can better imagine the power and strength that they need to do what they do. This makes me at one side more respectfull for their accomplishments and at the other side it stimulates me to improve, to become better.
So, that why I do not like the concept of hero. I call it also a concept, because it is an oversimplification of the reality. There is no DNA for heros. There are only persons, that try to do the good thing.
Eric,
Language can be very limiting. I think we are thinking alike, but the terms we are using are holding us apart.
For me the distinction would be between Superhero with super human powers and Hero, an ordinary person that pushes themselves beyond the bounds or normal limits.
Anyone can be a Hero by challenging themselves to perform at a higher level. There isn't a person born to be a Hero, but there are people who push themselves to levels of Heroism.
Siva and Roland summed it up very well in their comments on this post;
http://livewithoutconflict.com/blog/hero/
[...] on from our examination of what hero do you most admire and what makes a hero we’ll look at what our choice of Hero tells us something about [...]