Tag Archives: hero

Option Of Changing The World

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Are you going to do it, or not? What will your choice be? Every day when we are actually awake and paying attention, there are available options. Because you are reading this, you have many more options than half the people in the world. You more than half the population of the world can take and option that may change the world forever in ways never imagined.

As we go through our day most of us are not aware of making any choices. The way we tend to think about our day is everything is pretty much planned out. We know what we are going wear, what we are going to do, when we are going to eat, and what we will do with our free time.

In the course of thinking what we are going to do we will have made a number of decisions. The simple act of waking and deciding what we are going to do with our day involves any number of decisions we are not even aware we are making.

Do we really have to wear the clothes we picked out, spend our day doing what we know or decided we need to do, and end our day in the manner we determined we would when we woke? For the most part we do have to do what we have planned because we are on autopilot. If we do not do what we planned, it is possible we will have made some choices that take us down avenues of life we never thought possible.

When paying attention to how the day unfolds, there are small decisions that need to be made depending on circumstance. These are the options that pop up every day. Subtle small choices that really seem to have no impact on anything we are doing or are likely to do. Big things sometimes come in packages so small we never even notice they exist.

For example, it is not uncommon in these times to have people at intersections holding out their hands, a can, or a hat, asking for money. Some hold signs, some stand dejectedly looking at nothing in particular. It is so common most people hardly notice any more.

Someone you see everyday looks like they are having a really bad day even though you were not told about it. Maybe you are the only person to notice, or maybe you are the last person to notice that something is wrong in their life. Do you pretend you do not see their pain and suffering like everyone else has today?

The phone rings and it is someone asking for donations for some charity. They spend whatever seconds you give them trying to convince you that the situation is desperate and it is practically your civic duty to part with some hard earned dollars for their cause. Maybe it is important, and maybe it is a scam to part the unsuspecting from their money.

These are options that enter life almost each and every day. Some are so small and slippery they enter and leave without being noticed. Others are larger, and demand not only attention, but possibly time or money.

There are the few and far between well disguised big options. Everything in your life has happened for this very moment. The chaos of life has collaborated to create a sequence of events to put you into a position where you are the only person who can take the option to act on something that needs to be done.

It may not be an option of epic proportions such as Jason and the Golden Fleece, Sacajawea, or Marie Currie, but it may be as big, or bigger. When everything falls into place at the right, or wrong time, you may well be the only person in the world with the totally unique qualifications to accept this particular option and follow it to its end.

Of course there is always the option of passing. Saying no, or doing nothing. That is the most painless way away from the situation. In doing that the world will go on as it always has, and the option of doing something meaningful and making a difference will slip into the future somewhere, to appear again in another form. Waiting until the time is right for you to be given an option.

Life options such as these can be though of as entrances to a building you have never entered before, and know nothing about. WIthout realizing, you have the option of going through the door – or not. If you do nothing, nothing will change. If you choose the option to go through the door, you may change the world in ways you never imagined.

It doesn’t take courage to take an option. It doesn’t take strength, stamina, or athletic ability. It does take an awareness to know the seriousness of the option you are presented with and wisdom to make the correct decision. Will you take the option?

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Hero, or Human Being?

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accident2I don’t know if he would be thought of as a hero, a good Samaritan, or a decent human being. I think what he did went well above and beyond what the average person would do. I doubt other than a few of us, her family, and the police, no one else knows what happened and his part in it.

He is not much to look at. Tall, thin, some health problems that would make most people look away, or pretend they can not see him. You know how people look avoiding looking. They would mistake him for being homeless I think; not that he gives a hoot what people think.

It happened at an intersection of course, in busy city traffic. He looked when he heard the noise, mostly because he was only a few feet away. He saw the suv rolling over, the woman who was launched from the suv, and the end result.

He was not sure how it happened, only how it ended. He told me he had some experience as a medic. I am guessing that is from serving in the military, but maybe not, as I am only guessing where he had time to pick up medical training.

The suv swerved for somehow hit the curb, and careened away rolling over. The jolt of hitting the curb threw the driver out the window, or perhaps it was through the window, he was understandably a little fuzzy on that detail. The young woman was not wearing a seat belt – probably because suv’s are ‘safe’.

Somehow, while the woman lay on the ground, the suv’s wheels turned sharply, and it went into a roll. When it stopped, upside down, the lower half of the woman’s upper body down to her feet were between the vehicle and the pavement. He told me he had seen this before, but did not elaborate. I asked if he meant like the subway trains at the terminal, and he said yes, only she was being crushed from above and not the side.

What he meant was that the lower half of the woman’s upper torso was crushed by the suv’s weight. Because of this she felt no pain, and her vital signs were almost normal down to where her abdomen disappeared under the roof. He knew from experience that when they managed to lift the vehicle off of her, the lower half of her body would be an empty sack, her blood pressure would drop to nothing, and she would die almost instantly. He knew this within seconds of running to where she was to see if he could help.

He found her conscious. He asked if she knew what happened. She did, although she said she could not feel her body from the chest down. He calmly explained that she was crushed by her vehicle, and while the vehicle was on top of her, she would feel no pain.

Next he asked her if there was anyone she wanted to call, and offered her the use of his cell phone. She was very scared and asked him to call her mother. He asked her if she wanted a priest, or someone else present with her while she waited. She asked why, and he once again explained that she was crushed under the weight of the vehicle. He did not go into more detail as he became choked up himself. He said he told her what would happen when they removed the vehicle. He spoke with the mother and explained the situation, then held the phone to the woman’s ear for her.

She spoke with her Mother for about twenty five minutes he said. She made one more call of a few minutes. He said the police, and medical people were calm, and respectful. He held her head in his lap, as they lifted the vehicle off of her. His eyes teared up again, as he told me he held her as she passed, and it was all he could do for her.

He then told me he was too shaken to drive, and had someone else drive him to his home. He said he quietly took out a bottle of whiskey, poured three fingers in a large glass, and sat down in a chair.

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George S Patton, American hero and troubled man

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I watched the movie Patton starring George C. Scott today. George C Scott takes on the role of General George S. Patton and makes it very believable. This is not the first time I have watched the movie which came out in 1970 and I doubt it will be the last time I watch this movie. The movie revolves around General George S Patton and his remarkable achievements during World War II as a predominant commanding general of American allied participation during the war.

Of course most of my uncles were veterans of either World War II or the Korean war and opinion usually flowed freely about WWII field commanders and who was the best. Of course as it turned out, all the men present served under different commanders. Naturally each man thought his commander was the best of the bunch and the others were second rate wanna be’s. This conflict is present in the movie also. The Allied forces had some pretty large ego’s involved in their efforts and those ego’s come through pretty well.

The reason I bring up the movie is because of the feelings that Patton invoked in his time and the feelings the movie invokes. Patton is portrayed as a troubled hero who has no political savvy in a time when the world was changing. Patton is portrayed as a hero and and a man in the the movie. General Patton also lived and breathed war. Per the movie he believes he has lived many life times and fought in most great recorded battles found across Europe.

The movie portrays General George S. Patton as a hero who has his faults. General Patton as the movie portrays him is only a hero in his realm which is war. When General Patton is not in the feild commanding his army, his lack of political skill brings him trouble. He is shown as having problems with everyone from Presidents to fellow generals and enlisted men. General Patton on the field with his army was in his element and his men did not have any love for him, respected him, and did what many considered impossible for him.

Which brings me to the idea of a hero such as General Patton. The man is brilliant, talented, and a master at his craft which was war. What General Patton accomplished was heroism at its finest by America and its allies. General patton did what had to be done, and he did it as well or better than most other men alive. There may be some argument between the men of this caliber who marshaled WWII as to who was the best of the best, but none of them were there for reasons other than they earned the right to be there.

Any job is open to anyone who is willing to do it. For example, everyone has the opportunity to arrive at whatever station their personal drive propels them too. It is all a matter of how hard one is willing to work and how much one is willing to sacrifice for some elusive ever changing goal.

Unfortunately the more prestigious the position, or the more weight it carries, there are fewer possibilities that any one individual will hold such a position. For every one that makes it to that lofty perch, there are hundreds if not thousands who do not. For every General Pattton there are hundreds of thousands of foot soldiers. Individuals such as General Patton did not fall into their positions. They spent their lifetime getting ready for a chance at these positions.

We all have the opportunity to become bigger than life if we want it. For most of us the drive to make the sacrifices needed just for the opportunity are too great and it is a road most of choose not to go down. For those that do, they sacrifice most of everything we consider a normal part of day to day living.

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Heroic acts by non heroes

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My heroes have always been a little tarnished. I published a past post about Marion Jones and the opportunity for her to become a hero now that she is making herself even with the world – or at least with herself, which is more important. I still believe what I wrote, and I think Marion Jones has started the process of rising above her current self. If Marion Jones continues there is no reason she will not be a hero to young people, and older people alike.

It is my belief our future is never written in stone. We each have our own obstacles to overcome and conquer. I believe there is a potential hero hiding in Marion Jones, and it will shine sooner than later. Unlike other current athletes who prefer to lie and hide, Marion Jones has nothing left to hide. Only opportunity for better things can enter her life, the worst will soon be behind her. Soon she will have paid her debt, and she will be able to wipe her slate clean. Then the real Marion Jones will step out, and start doing great things she may not even have dreamt of. Things we may never know about, and perhaps have no need to know about, but great things all the same.

There is an opinion that heroes do not come from tarnished lives. Some folks may rightly believe that to be a true hero, one has to be heroic in all aspects of their lives. What this does I think, is separate a few heroes from someone doing a heroic act. It is easy to be on the throne and do a great thing, it is much harder when one is struggling to be, and finding themselves in a position of contemplating a heroic act, and following through with it. It is even harder, yet greater when that act goes unseen and unnoticed.

If there are such people in the world who are heroes in the second sense, where their whole life is shiny and polished without a mark against it, and doing great things, I am all for them getting the recognition they deserve, and I applaud them. In my more mundane world, I have yet to meet any people who could pass this type of hero test. The everyday heroes I see in my world are more like the desperate thief Dustin Hoffman played some years ago where he was not a person anyone would look up to, but did something above and beyond him, quite by accident, and for selfish reasons. He became a hero all the same for a short time.

Most of the heroes I have seen are people who are in the right place at the right time, and do something above themselves and the people around them, when they did not have to. They were not looking for the chance to do something special. They did what they did without thinking. One heroic person I have seen had been drinking, another was trying to escape his life, and a third person was coasting along through life trying to be invisible.

What these three had people done with their lives up until that point was nothing special, and after the notoriety wore off they went back to what they were before, ordinary people getting through the day. In the space of those seconds when they acted heroically, they were above and beyond themselves. They saw something wrong that needed righting in an instant, and before they even thought about what they were doing, the heroic action had took place. I am sure when they realized what they had done, they were as shocked as everyone around them.

It may be thought of as less than stellar, but those heroes I have seen in action were ordinary people who had a moment of heroism, and then faded back into the ordinary life they were living before the act. I do think these are the best types of heroes though. These are the heroes that you, I and anyone else can be, if we happen to find ourselves in the right place at the right time.

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Female Heroes found masquerading in the school system!

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I am probably one of the few people you know who was put in the hall in Kindergarten. That is the present day version of time out. I continued refining my abilities though elementary school. By the time I hit junior high I was a master. In seventh grade, I was partially responsible for one of my teachers having a nervous breakdown. By eighth grade, I was a daily visitor to the Principals office forced to do math, and attitude adjustment, led by the Vice Principal – his nickname was mighty mouse, fwiw. By senior high, I had learned to stay below the radar screen. I was only in serious trouble once in tenth grade for splattering enamel paint across the school Principal’s white shirt and tie. I did not know he was behind me when I spun and flung the paint.

In my first year of college, I spent some time visiting with the Dean on a few occasions during the year. At the end of the spring semester, the Dean told me I was not welcomed back next year. I had my supporters though. There were people who were willing to pay my way through college if I would become a teacher, or social worker. I had enough experience watching me in action, to know I was not cut out for either career, even though they thought I would be perfect. So I turned them down.

Thinking about myself, reminded me there are two educator’s right in my own family. Female Heroes, and educational role models, both of them. I have just been oblivious to them! I want to talk about each of them in turn, as they both deserve a lot more than the few words I have for them.

One is a Principal of an Elementary School. She has worked very hard to achieve this life long dream of hers. She is a credit to her school system she is an integral part of. Her students are a mixed bunch, some of the parent(s) are struggling on many fronts. She manages to keep the school running, ensures her students get as much of what they need as she can from the system, and the community. Of course it is never enough, and there is never enough to really go around, but she manages to stretch what there is for as many of her students as she can. She is a great example of dedication, and love for her work. I hope she does not have students like I was, to contend with on top of everything else.

A second family member is a teacher’s assistant. In these times of no child left behind, she is one of the few who happily takes on the hardest kids of the bunch. She takes care of, and helps teach kids with serious learning, emotional, or psychological problems. Some of these kids have been learning their alphabets for a couple of years, and still have difficulty keeping the letters in order. Yet she loves her work! She does not even see it as a job, but something she looks forward to doing each day.

These are some real Female Heroes! I know every city, and many family’s have them, but we rarely celebrate them. Many teacher’s teaching today – if they didn’t have a burning passion for what they do each day – could double, or triple their salary in the private sector. Yet there they are, five days a week, making a difference! And they do not get extra pay when a student like I was comes along.

The next time you meet with a Teacher, think about what they are doing for you and your community. If you are like me, and you come up short in the comparison, let them know how special you think they are for what they do. Supporting your local school with time or supplies once in a while helps too.

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Female hero saves son, lifts truck while men watch!

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I never learned this woman’s name, and I never saw her before, or after, but what I did see her do was incredible! I do not think she could ever do it again. I doubt she even realized she was doing it as it happened. There were no pictures taken, it never made the paper, or the six o’clock news. For about thirty an unknown woman was a full fledged hero, and a life saver!

There was an accident at a corner close to where we were playing one afternoon. A boy was hit by a full size pickup truck. It was not a new compact, but a truck from the sixties when vehicle weight was not an issue. I did not see how the accident happened, but a boy was pinned under the truck, and in considerable pain.

From across the street, a woman showed up crying; she was the boy’s mother. She ran over to the truck and kneeled down on the blacktop and looked at her boy, pinned beneath the vehicle. She wanted to pull him out, but he was pinned, and it was not possible.

Without a seconds hesitation the woman stood up, and faced the front bumper of the truck. She bent down and reached under the bumper. She stood up, and the front of the truck lifted with her! She stood there looking almost calm holding the front end of this pick up truck in the air. She looked towards two men standing close to her and told them, “Pull my son out from under the truck.”

The men were frozen in place at the sight, but then sprung into action and pulled the boy from underneath the truck. When the boy was clear the woman lowered the truck. Minutes later an ambulance showed up. They inspected the boy, put him on a board, then on a cot, and into the ambulance. The woman climbed in, the door was closed and the ambulance left.

If anyone had told me this story, I would be hard pressed to believe it. An average five foot something woman lifting the front end of a pickup truck off the ground just isn’t done. Yet things like this are done all the time. People everywhere do things that require something they think they could not do, yet they do it anyway.

I do not think this woman would ever be able to lift a truck for anyone other than her own son. I also know for those few seconds she was a true hero! Beside the fact that it was her son, she acted without thinking for a second that she could not lift the truck one half inch, let alone almost six inches off the ground! It never entered her mind that she could be crippled in the attempt. She simply acted without thinking of herself.

While we may never have an opportunity to be a hero at that level, we all have chances to be heroes or heroines. Every time we are out in public, people are watching us, judging us, and rating us on their personal scale. It is these times where we can be heroic even if it is only a small amount of heroism we display. Give it a try tomorrow. Tell yourself before going to sleep tonight that you are going to actively look for an opportunity to do something good for someone. You will be surprised how many chances you have, and how easy it is. After a few times, you will know that it feels better being a small time hero, than pretending you do not see someone needing your help.

I never saw the boy or the woman again, it happened in my neighborhood, but they were not part of it. I would like to think that because of the woman, the boy was okay. I would also like to think the woman was okay, and did not hurt herself saving her son.

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