What Do You Mean, "There is a Hero in All of Us?"
As a society, we have lifted the label of “hero” out of reach for the very people most often responsible for acts of heroism. For every individual hailed as a hero, you will find countless nameless others who also deserve and have earned that title.
There is a hero in all of us, but few of us accept our call to adventure.
Why not?
At the outset of the hero’s journey, the hero-to-be receives a call to adventure or an invitation to depart from the status quo.
The comfortable environment we live in may result from the subtle, and not-so-subtle, expectations of the people around us. It may be the decision that the problem we observed is “none of our business,” or it may be tuning in to the messages that support our viewpoint, while tuning out those that do not.
We live the repetitive rhythm of an average, everyday, mundane, normal, ordinary, and altogether routine world. In fact, our bodies and our minds crave the emotional and mental ease of living life on autopilot, and we often will go to great lengths to preserve this state.
Which is why, for many, a disappointment, disruption, or disaster becomes our call to adventure.
Instead of a beautifully engraved invitation delivered by a chorus of angels, our call may be a gut-wrenching kick in the ass provided by a cruel turn of fate, which oftentimes are parts of the origin stories we see in movies and shows. In Deadpool, Wade Wilson learns he has several forms of inoperable cancer. In Wonder Woman, Princess Diana’s island home is invaded and its inhabitants attacked by outsiders.
I’ve certainly had more than a few of my own kicks in the ass from my college experience to my professional career. In every one of these examples, challenges and heartaches were thrust upon me, and I just wanted those ordeals to go away.
Nonetheless, my desire to create positive change for others kept me moving forward, if only one small step at a time.
For me, cultivating courageous cultures that give every person the opportunity to be the very best version of themselves is just part of who I am, and it is something that I cannot not do.
Who or what is calling you? Which people or groups do you connect with? Whose experience or suffering attracts your attention?
What causes do you care about?
What challenges do you see in your organization or in your community?
What issues, problems, or topics capture your interest? What do you talk about most frequently with family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, etc.? What themes would you find by reviewing your social media?
What experiences, knowledge, or talents could you leverage to serve others? How could you leverage them?
Let’s be clear. The call to adventure is not a call for achievement, perfection, or even success. It is aptly named the call to adventure because it is the call to accept a challenge, embark on a journey, and discover a new way.
To accept the adventure is not to know the destination or the outcome, only the path and the process.
You can try something adventurous. Try something different. Try something new. Go beyond the average, everyday, and ordinary choices for which so many people settle. In other words, make extra-ordinary choices.
Above all, try.
The greatest challenge each and every one of us faces is becoming ourselves, becoming everything that is within us, and demonstrating that power with consistency through action, regardless of the fears and pressures we face. To do this, you have to look within and answer the questions: Who am I? How do I see myself in the world?
Are you ready to embark on a journey to transform the world, if even for just one person?
Even If that one person is you?
There is a hero in all of us.
