Heros

With the 4th of July having just passed and all the talk about heroes, I wanted to talk about heroes too. Growing up, a hero to me was someone that you looked up to that did something extraordinary, invented something necessary or paved the way for others. To me, police, firefighters and the military were all heroes but in a different sense. They were there to help us, save us or keep us safe, they were all on a different (higher) level, at least to me.

The word hero is tossed around now to describe athletes, movie stars, or entertainers of any kinds including bands. To me, they are not heroes, they are lucky people that made it big and a ton of money by performing. They may all really love what they do but they are in no way heroes just because of their profession.

A hero is defined as below by Wikipedia.

A hero (masculine) or heroine (feminine) is a real person or a main character of a literary work who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, bravery or strength; the original hero type of classical epics did such things for the sake of glory and honor. On the hand are Medieval and modern heroes, who perform great deeds for the common good instead of the classical goal of pride and fame.

Growing up my heroes were the three listed below not the popular athlete of the time. They each did something extraordinary and what I imagine they were told could not be done.

• George Washington - lead a new country to find its identity
• Abraham Lincoln - the 16th President, freed the slaves
• Amelia Earhart - first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic
• Clara Barton - a nurse in the American Civil war who started the American Red Cross

These are the type of people we need to put forth as heroes to our children. Even Orpah Winfrey who came from nothing, worked, learned and built an empire showing all little girls out there that you can do whatever you want. Even in this, still to this day, "mans world".

Let's promote the right kind of heroes.