Engineering Life

Dictionary.com defines a hero as “a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities” or “a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal.”

But in this world are we short heroes?  I was reading “A Weekend to Change Your Life” by Joan Anderson and she asks you to find someone in your family that you admire and to list the reasons why you admire that person.  I picked my aunt at the time because she had overcome huge obstacles in her life.  And not only did she overcome them, she did it in such a way that it created a path in her life and transformed her into someone she couldn’t have been without the obstacles and the journey she made to overcome them. 

I would also choose my mother for the same reasons.  Unfortunately, her obstacles included cancer that took her life.  But the way she dealt with her obstacles in her life before the cancer and during the course of the cancer, made her into a hero for many people.

The impact of these women have been an strong force in my life, giving me examples of how I want to be.  I don’t want to sink under my trails.  I don’t want to stand still and let the storms of life take me.  I want to use the waves to make me stronger and to get me where I want to go… or at least propel me forward in life. 

People can save us in our day to day lives.  Heroes that help us make it through today.  I have been helped by so many people in my life and during my travels.  They just seem to be there at just the right time.  I saw it when I was going through my divorce(you know who you are!) and I see it almost daily now that I am traveling.  So many people have helped me in small ways and they may think nothing of it, but it means everything to me.  They were there at just the right time — like the guy who pulled me out of the ditch when I was biking through Holland. 

You don’t often see it when you are someone’s hero, but yesterday I was lucky enough to see that I was someone’s hero — if just for a moment.  I was lost(as usual) and looking for my hostel and I asked someone for directions.  He was sitting at the bus stop and had just quit his job because he had enough.  We ended up talking for a while and he showed me where I needed to go.

Later he sent me an email saying, “Its funny how I honestly felt like all was lost when I was sitting at that bus stop not knowing what I should do and then I meet you, someone who has gone through a lot as well and yet your disposition was infectious!  I felt like, “You know what? It isn’t the end of the world”

This guy said he believed he would do something great.  I believe he will because he has been through a lot of things and he’s a survivor.  Maybe you have to go through the dark times to be able to be a hero, because it’s how you handle the hard times that defines you as someone’s hero.  People say, “[All this crap in your life] will make you stronger.”  Not really a comfort, but if I can be stronger so one day I can help someone and be someone’s hero… maybe then it will be worth it. 

As I write this, I think of my friend that recently lost his hero to cancer.  I dedicate this to the friends and family of this hero, knowing that now you will be a hero to someone as she was a hero to you.