A person who is admired for their courage and outstanding achievementsis called a hero.
A hero is someone who “we” determine to have demonstrated behaviors and decisions that are ethically and emotionally worthy of our awe. We see in them something we think is not in us. Given similar conditions, we “think” we might not make the same moves and decisions they do, so we place them in an elevated place in society or in our minds. What is a hero? Someone who inspires us by their example. Someone who moves us emotionally to connect with them at some level in order for us develop a connection with them. We may want to idolize them or place them in high personal regard. We may want to connect with them in a personal way by focusing on them to garner their strength or will-power. We may also desire to possess them in order to gain hero status by way of a kindred association.
So, what is it specifically that a hero does that creates awe in us? What makes us pick one over another? What is it about our hero that makes us stand-up and take note and then admire, adore or try to emulate them? In many cases, it is their accomplishments. We have been granted access to their triumphant consummations of acts and deeds which, we believe, are beyond our own capacities. For example, a great football player achieves astounding record breaking feats, and we immediately determine that they possess a greatness, that we bestowed upon them. They are a god. They are superior in all ways due to the fact that they threw the ball further or ran faster than all before them. We develop awe and a form of respect for their accomplishments. Their achievements become the new “super hero” standard to measure against. What about Princess Diane, the people’s princess? The world adored her in her rise from a rather simple country girl to a world recognized and cherished symbol of goodness. We connected with her, no matter who we were, because she connected with us in an awe inspiring way. Like a fairy tale, her journey to marry Prince Charles and become a Princess disclosed to us that it was indeed possible to live a fairy tale life. What did we garner from this example? That we connect with a hero because a hero connects with us. Even though they have done that which, we think, is beyond us, they connect with us. It would seem to be paradoxical, but for some reason, it is not.
What else does a hero do to attain our admiration? Many times, they overcome a tragedy or survive a horrendous calamity. A sickness or a heinous accident that would have desolated the average person, seems to have intensified the heroes determination and intrepidity. We gaze upon this person in absolute astonishment and want to reward them with our love and respect for their triumph over tragedy. Their actions tell us that is it possible to overcome whatever comes our way. They connect with us personally by surviving and thriving.
Since the beginning of time many of our heroes were warriors who over-powered those who would try to harm or take from us the things that we cherished. A strong defender of us as a society or culture gets hero status. Our great military soldiers who sacrifice everything to defend our borders, or cultures or our freedoms are indeed heroes to us. He or she places their very lives on the line in order that our way of life is protected from the influences or domination of others who wish to bring evil to us. Our armed forces are a classification of joint heroes. We automatically bestow heroic honors to those who fight for us. However, very often a single person will emerge from the joint heroes to be elevated to hero. He or she has demonstrated such courage and honor that they grab the attention of a grateful society. We call them hero and we are compelled to connect with them. Many times, this hero does not understand why they are being exalted merely for doing what they believed and thought was correct and right. They did not think at the moments or during the episode, “if I do this, I will be loved and adored forever”. They simply did what was in them. They placed other people’s wellbeing before and above their own. Thank God above for this hero, because our freedoms are dependent upon these few.