Who is a true hero?
Heroes are heroes because they are heroic in behaviour, not because they won or lost.’
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
A hero is someone who does what must be done, and needs no other reason.
CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN & NANCY HOLDER, Sons of Entropy
(www.notable-quotes.com)
Winners take all and the losers end up in the footnotes of history. This perennial theme of history’s whimsical apportioning of fame has continued to play out throughout history.
We read about emperors and generals who won wars and built empires. We don’t hear much about those who lost battles because of random events despite fighting bravely. All the battles won by Napolean faded into oblivion once he lost the battle of Waterloo.
Scientists who toiled but failed to achieve breakthroughs in research are seldom remembered. Their toil and output may have helped the invention of new technologies. It is the person who happened to finish the work and came up with a new discovery who got all the laurels.
In our news-saturated modern age, the media amplifies the winner-take-all paradigm by its sensationalism. It heaps praise on those breasted the tape in the race but does not utter a word about those who came close. A difference of 0.01 seconds can separate the winner from the loser.
How do we measure heroism? Who is a heroic person?
The ancient classics treated those who tried, fought and lived true to their values as heroes and not merely those who happened to achieve fame and status. Heroes were those who upheld their core values even in the most difficult and life-threatening circumstances. It is how they lived and not what they achieved that measured their greatness.
Heroism is to be measured by sincere and honest efforts to succeed in a chosen field, by ethical behaviour in the face of adversity, by conscientious conduct when faced with moral dilemmas, by the ability to sacrifice and delay gratification in the interests of others. A person who fails despite living true to the above values is a hero.
There are millions and millions of heroes living in our midst. They are ordinary people with extraordinary character, resilience and moral uprightness. They are unsung heroes who don’t catch newspaper headlines. We fail to recognize them and honour them because we associate heroism with remarkable and sensational outcomes. We forget that heroism is can be found in the mundane and ordinary walks of life.
To live honestly, ethically, and empathetically in a world obsessed with power wealth, and social status is an act of heroism.
Anybody who tries to actualize their potential by hard work is a hero no matter what the outcomes may be. The real heroes do not care for fickle Fortune’s favours. They believe in themselves and the call of duty to extend themselves to achieve their potential. They are triers, benefactors, and role models for whom anonymity is not a handicap. They treat honest work as its own reward.
Those who do their jobs as honestly and conscientiously as possible- - nurses, doctors, factory workers, legislator, policemen, soldiers and generals, civic workers, presidents and prime ministers, entrepreneurs, scientists, fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers and so on - are heroes. This list is illustrative only. Let’s salute them for societies prosper when people work hard without expecting favours in return.
Heroism is not the exclusive preserve of the human species. Even animals and birds exhibit heroic behaviour.
Let’s look around to identify and honour heroic behaviours from whoever or whatever it may be. Heroism arises when the ordinary achieve extraordinariness.
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