Who is your Hero?

According to Webster's Dictionary, a "hero" is defined as "1: a person admired for great deeds or fine qualities. 2: a person who shows great courage". Oftentimes, people will casually say that someone is their hero. I'm sure you have said it yourself - I know that I have. It's always easy to look at someone else and see the good, but have you ever thought of yourself as your hero? Conceited? No, it's positive thinking and something we should all do more of.

Looking back at our definition, no one can argue that Derek Jeter is not admired for his great deeds. This photo is one all Yankee fans were accustomed to seeing - Derek with his arms in the air celebrating another Yankee victory. (Hopefully we will all soon see more Yankee victories, but I digress.) This quote, which he famously stated on his last day as a Yankee and again during his recent induction to the Hall of Fame, captures his essence "...I don't think anyone played harder". He recognizes the limits in his natural talent, but made up for that with his hard work and dedication. Was it easy? He would be the first to say no, but he lived his authentic self and made it look easy - and made a few bucks along the way.

Only we know the heartache and trials that is takes to get to where we are, yet we often don't give ourselves credit for that work. Just as we see in any Instagram or Facebook post, we see the filtered, perfectly staged, best version that someone wants to share. We see the beautiful ballet and the ballerina on pointe, executing the perfect pirouette. We don't see her bandages, scars, broken toenails, bruises - that's all well covered and not reflected in the perfect image. It's not meant to be seen, just endured by the dancer as another step along her road to success.

I recently had someone tell me that something that I had shared on social media had inspired her to finally take action on an internal battle she had been fighting her whole life. She said that now she was successful and felt wonderful. She attributed her success to me when she should be attributing that success to herself. She always had the tools to succeed, it was a matter of turning on the light to find those tools. So maybe I helped her to find the light switch, but I certainly didn't do the work to get her to success. She did that. Herself.

In 2017, The Greatest Showman was a huge hit and it's song "This is Me" won the Golden Globe for best original song. It was nominated for an Emmy, but sadly lost that year. Almost everyone I know can sing that song and everyone loves it; but maybe now it's time to live those lyrics instead of just lip-syncing while we drive down the road. It's time to look in the mirror and look for the positives rather than tearing ourselves apart.

Take a moment today to do just that - look at yourself, truly look at yourself and find two things that you are proud of. We all have them. Then, cue up your best Keala Settle impression and sing those beautiful lyrics:

I am brave, I am bruised

I am who I'm meant to be, this is me

And truly be your own hero.

Live Like....

lyrics by Benj Pasek/Justin Paul