The World is in a mess. Hope has become a rare commodity. Uncertainty about the future is the prevailing sentiment.
These are not lines from the introduction to a movie or from a blurb for a dystopian novel. These lines represent the present state of affairs in the world around us. And like movies and books, times like these call for a Hero, don’t they?
But what is a hero?
Who would know better than Superman. Christopher Reeve (the guy famous for playing Superman) says:
I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.
Thanks to Corona Virus, the obstacles are overwhelming today.
A large percentage of the population today has not seen times like these before; nor were they expecting to. Only three months back all of us were busy making New Year resolutions, knowing deep in our hearts that, like previous years, some of them were going to fail anyway. All those resolutions do not seem to matter anymore, and no one could have anticipated that in three month’s time staying true to our resolutions would be the least of our worries .
But, worrying doesn’t solve anything anyway. As Baz Luhrmann told us in his famous sunscreen song,
Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing Bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4 PM on some idle Tuesday.
So, instead of worrying , become a Hero. All of us are heroes of our own stories, but adverse times give us a chance to become a hero in other people’s stories. I am sure if you look around (in real life, or on your social media TL), you will find countless stories of hope and courage; stories of people defying odds to help the world survive these tough times. Most of us have more time than usual on our hands these days. We can just while away this time, or find ways to help ourselves and those around us. The choice is ours. We define who we are.
And since we have time on your hands, I will leave you with this episode of Mind Field, where Michael Steven tells us how we can become a hero:
What do you think?