Everyone wants a hero. Be they super or not. We all want someone to count on. Someone to believe in. I’ve come to realize you don’t need a super hero or anything out of ordinary.

Take a good look around yourself. Heroes are everywhere. Can you see them?

They may not be men in spandex tights or unnaturally muscled women. Actually most of them are far from it unless it’s Halloween.

Most of them are in plain sight. They can be a century older or even that much younger. They can be your age or just a few years ahead. Be they young or old. Rich or poor. They are everywhere from London to Hollywood to Dallas to Egypt and anywhere else you can think of. They aren’t just celebrities. In fact. Celebrities probably aren’t the best examples of heroes. Fame tends to get to the head. So if you were picturing Taylor Lautner or Katy Perry or Kate Beckinsale scratch that image. While sure they can be good I’m talking normal everyday people.

Imagine this. You’re on the sidewalk of a slightly crowed street. You’re walking along minding your own business, but something catches your eyes. It’s out of the ordinary or so it seems to you. A man in a nice suit is conversing with a homeless man. You don’t know it, but that man in the suit he’s the CEO of a huge company. And somehow. There he is. Talking to the homeless man. Kindly too. He hands him a brown paper sack out of a basket you didn’t quite notice at first. You blink. A thousand thoughts running through your head, but you admire the man. He seems rich, yet here he is giving back. Being selfless. Caring for those who can’t. You’ve just found and everyday hero on the street.

Are you surprised?

I know I was. When I noticed these types of things. Random acts of kindness. Holding the door open. A well placed complement given in an almost vacant elevator. A whistle from a man. Your date opening the door of the car for you. Little things. Yeah, but you remember them. It causes you to admire someone.

The man. That CEO. He has a wife. A very good doctor saves lives and asks for nothing in return, in fact her practice offers free care to the needy, and most of her operations are very expensive. She’s unable to have children. She doesn’t complain. She and her husband decide to foster. You’ve just found another hero.

Amazing isn’t it? How easy we can find a hero. Someone to admire. To look up to. To aspire to be like. Those would be older than most of us here. Our peers can be heroes too. And I bet you just giggled at that huh?

Imagine this. You’re at school. Again minding your own business. You spent your allowance on say a new outfit and an amazing haircut. You look really good. No one, not even teachers, have said anything. You’re feeling kind of down. One of the shyer guys in a grade above you complements you. You’ve heard a lot of great things about this guy. One of the main things is he’s filthy rich. The other is he’s really snotty. He doesn’t look nor seem like either of the two. He asks you if you wanna hang out after school. You take a chance and say yes. The two of you have an amazing time. The next day you see someone putting him down. You walk over and stand up for him. Look at that. Both you and the guy are heroes.

How?

He made you feel better. You stood up for him. You also ignored what you heard and took a chance. He admires you and you in return admire him. He’s not at all snotty even though yes he is rich. Simple to find something good in the rich who give back or aren’t self confident because of their money, but what about the poor?

Imagine this. You’re walking to an older park in the bad side of town. It’s got a lot of poverty and homeless people. You’re minding your own business lost in thought with your eyes to the sky admiring the clouds. A groan snaps you from your thoughts. A man collapsed a few feet in front of you. An older woman who appears to be homeless notices and checks his pulse before standing up and looking to you. She’s concerned about the man even though he was rude to her a few moments before. She asks for you to call an ambulance for him. You oblige and call. You wait with the woman for the ambulance. You notice a boy around your age with a bike and some sort of wagon attached to it coming up the sidewalk. He doesn’t look much better than the old woman you’re sitting with, yet he has cans and boxes of food loaded in the contraption. He stops and converses with the old woman about the man and what happen. He smiles kindly at you. He asks how you are and knows your name. You’re quite surprised. You ask him if you know him. He simply states with that same smile of his, that he goes to your school, and was in all of your classes before he got held back. He reaches back and grabs a sack which he then proceeds to fill with provisions from the wagon. He hands to the woman before heading off. The ambulance arrives shortly and the man is carted off. You’re left with the old woman. You smile at her and ask if there’s anything you can do for her. After all you are inspired by the boy whose name you still can’t recall, but you know is less fortunate than you and still does all he can for others and people worse off than him. And there you have it three heroes. The boy, the old woman, and yourself.

I bet you’re amazed by now. It’s simple. Heroes. You’re probably one. Your parents are. A lot of people are heroes. We don’t have super powers. On the contrary. We’ve got compassion. Understanding. Patience. Drive. Determination. We’ve got the sense of right and wrong. We know charity helps and we do the most we can. We care. And it’s just that simple. We’re caring and we do what think is right without needing the pat on the back or kiss on the cheek or hug of happiness. No. We don’t expect anything back from we’ve done. Nothing. Except that sweet feeling you get from giving a complement or standing up for yourself or something or even someone you believe in. Sometimes we don’t even expect that.

So within that last paragraph I think you’ve noticed what I have. I use the word ‘we’ or the contraction ‘we’re’. You know why? Because everyone has the potential to be a hero. I do. You do. Anyone can be a hero. So think about it. Do you want to be the like that man who ended up in the ambulance who wasn’t a hero or do you want to be like the old woman who asked you to call the ambulance? Do you want to be an inspiration? A true hero?

I hope I’ve struck something within all of you. I hope you all choose to be like the old woman or the CEO or the doctor or the boys. I hope you don’t choose to be the man in the ambulance. Most of all I hope that the next time you get the chance instead of imagining you actually do become a real life true every day hero.