Becoming an Everyday Hero

Have you ever dreamed of being a hero? Raise your hand! Come on, don’t be shy. . . ‘fess up! Doesn’t everyone at some point or other in their lives aspire to be a hero, even if it might be to accomplish just one huge, glorious feat of goodness? Who hasn’t had a daydream about donning a long beautiful sweeping cape and bursting forth with super powers to right all wrongs? But do you know what finally occurred to me? We are already heroes. Each and every one of us! I am actually stunned at just how many super powers are intrinsic to a woman’s nature. Perhaps I should explain myself a bit first. Have you ever had one of those epiphanies… you know the kind where all the light bulbs go off at once and the miraculous “Ah Ha” moment hits you like a ton of bricks cliché, how about another metaphor? Well, it’s taken me about a half a century for the puzzle pieces to finally fall nicely into place. And all it took was a few recent events to pull it all together with astonishing clarity. You see, after my now infamous face plant where I shattered my cheek bone several months ago in a staff day kick ball tou ament; I was plagued by a horribly ugly, painful, roaring infection of volcanic proportions right in the middle of my cheek. After a month of trotting myself off to my primary care doctor every week, I was finally told to just leave it alone and it would go away by itself; (it didn’t, it wouldn’t), I begged the dermatologist to sneak me into her schedule ASAP. As soon as the dermatologist took one look, she muttered those two dreadful words… “Oh My”, pulled out her littlest scalpel and got to work removing whatever foreign object had embedded itself deep into my cheek that kept an infection raging all this time. Literally within a day, the infection dissipated and the gigantic sore finally started to heal. Less than a week later, when I went back for the follow-up to have the stitches removed, my cheek was almost back to it’s normal non-volcanic, not infected state and looking quite nice, if I do say so myself. When the dermatologist strolled into the examining room to check out her handy work I just had to blurt out that she was my hero! Anyone that can cure such a painful eyesore in a matter of moments is certainly more than qualified to be a hero, don’t you think? That’s one of the most important traits of a hero you know; they fix things, they right wrongs, they make things better. Now for the collision of the puzzle pieces that will bring some sense to this story… As I was driving away from my newfound hero’s office, Jamie O’Neal’s song “Somebody’s Hero” began to play on the radio. As my mind drifted with the music I realized, “Hey!” I’m somebody’s hero too! Then the epiphany struck. . . We all are! As the lyrics sang to me of the heroic qualities that I for years I have neglected to recognize as such, I confirmed for myself that I am indeed a hero: • I have been the keeper of the Cheerios. • I have given my children wings to leave the nest. • I have been the envy of the nursing home as I lovingly cared for my Mother in her final days. . . Yup, we are all somebody’s hero. But there’s more. . . Much, much more in fact. The reality is that we are all Everyday Heroes! Now you might be thinking, “How can that be? How can women be heroes each and every day?” Well, have you ever considered the amazing array of super powers that are as fundamental to the make-up of women as out-running a speeding bullet is to Superman? Once you start to contemplate and catalog the attributes that transform us from ordinary simple women one moment into Everyday Heroes with a vast array of amazing super human powers the next, you too will be dusting off your cape and proudly holding your head high to strut all your miraculous heroic qualities for the entire world to see. Just think about it for a moment. . .

• Women instinctively use a highly developed and evolved form of ESP to instantly perceive the danger that lies in wait behind every poor choice, ill-made decision and impulsive act. • Our X-Ray vision sees right through to the heart of the matter in the blink of an eye to reveal the truth; even when left unspoken or misstated (Yeah, right!) • “The look” focuses its precise and incredibly powerful laser beam stare to immediately halt the mischievous acts of even the naughtiest children or works to impale the most nasty, mean, cranky, rude person with paralysis to prevent them from further harassing an innocent and helpless store clerk. • We have the Herculean strength to bring not only ourselves but everyone around us through seemingly insurmountable challenges and tragedies. • A woman’s soft whisper of encouragement will send fear flying away at warp speed. • We all possess a supe aturally infused goodnight kiss that instantly banishes away all the creepy, scary monsters right out from under the bed and blasts the nightmarish fiends lurking behind the closet door back to the Netherlands where they rightfully belong. • Once our minds are made up, our will becomes more powerful than a locomotive. • A simple feather light brush of a woman’s finger tip infuses a friend with the courage to face the next challenge, brings reassuring comfort to a dying loved one, and radiates its’ energizing hope that can propel anyone to conquer the crisis du’jour. • We multi-task at the speed of light. • With a heartfelt hug we can mend a broken heart w-a-y faster than a speeding bullet. • We each have our unique recipe for soul food (mine is a simple chicken soup). It’s our own very special concoction imbued with love and care, that literally can restore the will to live; comforts the ill and ailing; heals despair and even heartaches.

And trust me; these few examples of a woman’s special powers to nourish, heal, fix, comfort and save represent only the very tip of the iceberg! Women are made of iron clad will. They have the strength to bear the weight of the entire world on their shoulders. Their empathy runs deeper and reaches farther than the beams of sunlight that illuminate the entire universe. I would eliminate this – it’s repetitive. Unbeknownst to many of us, we securely wrap ourselves in an invisible cloak of heroic attributes as we wake-up to greet the sunrise each morning. Throughout each and everyday, without giving it any conscious thought, we freely share our restorative powers through the simple acts of kindness that see us through to the next day. My career in child protection services has demonstrated over and over again how something as simple as the act of listening carefully and respectfully can inspire a struggling family to actively seek out and involve themselves with the support services that will help them address their challenges. As a web site owner, (my alter ego), I marvel at the response I receive when visitors tell me how my website, http://www.web-site-building-tips.com/web-site-tips.html has inspired them to gather up the courage and venture into what they had once feared was an overwhelming and scary virtual world of online business. To hear their pride when they share with me how they have created their very own website ebusiness that has put them on the fast-track to achieving their dreams of securing financial independence for themselves; provides an amazing rush of delight that serves to renew my commitment to giving all I can to continue to inspire others to pursue their passions. I bet you have never really thought of yourself as a hero. I sure haven’t. But as the puzzles pieces slowly slid quietly into place, I have come to the unmistakable realization that each and everyone of us are and always will be. . . An Everyday Hero.