By definition, a ‘Hero’ does not have it easy…

“A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.”
Christopher Reeve

Think about it.

You read a book. In it, the hero has a cruisey ride. From the moment of their auspicious birth everything they touch magically works.  They are incredibly popular. All their family and friends are kind and loyal.  Oh – and smart and beautiful too.  Even if the hero has to endure some sort of obstacle (which is unlikely), it’s so easily overcome that they never even mess up their hair.  They have plenty of money, plenty of food, plenty of really cool stuff, success in every direction, and life just works out for them. It’s all so easy.

Seriously, who would read that?

That’s no hero. That’s just a plastic-fantastic fantasy.

The real heroes in life are ordinary people. People just like you.

They’re the people who keep going when life gets hard.

They hang on, even when they can’t count on a single friend.

They keep going, even when everything around them is falling apart.

They put their game face on. They grit their teeth.

And they might be terrified.  They might be filled with doubt. Their pockets empty, their belly empty, and no-one riding in to save them.

Their dream might be so far off…

The future might look so uncertain…

The chance of things turning out well might be so slim…

They might have fallen so many times that they wonder if they can get back up.

But they look life in the eye. They hold up their head even when their cheeks are glazed with tears.

And they keep on going.

That’s a true hero.

That’s the story we want to read.

And the truth is, we never know how incredible we are, how strong we are, what we are truly made of – until we try.

We don’t need to wait for a superhero to save us.  We need to be our own hero.

Each day you’re writing the pages of the book of your life. By definition, a hero does not have it easy. That’s actually okay.  A life of overcoming challenges, and growing into someone wiser, kinder, better than we were before?  By definition, that’s the kind of book we all want to read.