YOUNG VOICE
The Hero Potential
Call me a hopeless idealist but I want every person to become a hero because I know that we are all capable of being such
THE katipunero’s wife wept as she loosely tied the red bandana atop her husband’s white kamisochino. Their 10-year old son was at the corner, cradling the itak, hoping that his father would notice that he had made it sharper. The man kissed his wife and son and reassured them his love.
Tonight, the katipunan will stage another revolt against the Spanish regime. Tonight, the katipunero will die for his country.
The senator’s wife wept as she fixed the collar of her husband’s polo. Their 12-year-old youngest daughter hugged her dad tight. She wishes that she could visit Disneyland when her dad returns. The senator kissed his wife and children and reassured them his love. That August 21, the senator will attempt to awaken the slumbering spirits of his countrymen. That August 21, the senator will descend the ladder of the airplane coming from what has been a peaceful, silent and happy life with his family in America. That August 21, the senator will die for his country.
What does it take to be a hero?
My young mind once thought that if you get injured or die for the sake of the people, you will become a hero.
Pushing a crossing child away from the road, sparing him and getting yourself hit by a ten-wheeler truck can make you a hero. Getting yourself fractured from saving a lady from a gang who’s trying to steal her purse can make you a hero.
Bloodshed can be one way. But not everyone who got themselves disabled and buried six feet below the ground for patriotism’s sake received the recognition they deserved. Bloodshed can bring heroism up to the next level but, I believe, it is not the sole mark of heroism.
Superman continues to be the most favorite superhero because up to now his chisel-chinned face is seen on Cartoon Network, a pre-schooler’s pencil case or a trick-or-treater’s costume on Halloween. I do not propose that if you plan to be a hero you have to find a kind rich dude to produce your own series or start your own line of pre-teen boys’ underwear. I’m just referring to Superman’s consistency; however commercialism is what made him consistent.
Heroes need to be inherently consistent. When you want to help, help all the way. But once again, not everyone who is consistent has humanitarian motives. Others are putting with the act for self-vested interest, to keep their deceits and frauds masked and surviving.
But, what leads a hero to die or get injured for the sake of others? What leads a hero to continue his deeds despite the odds? Selflessness. This is the same force that drives unconditional love. When a person charges to a risky battle, he knows that he may lose everything. When he retaliates, he lets fear overtake him. When he pursues, he becomes selfless now knowing that those dear to him may gain something out of his act. When he pursues, he goes out of the battle, whether dead or alive, a hero.
For me, selflessness is what primarily defines a hero. Selflessness encompasses consistency and bloodshed. When one is selfless, the two traits follow.
Call me a hopeless idealist but I want every person to become a hero because I know that we are all capable of being such. I do not believe that you go through this life just to get through every day without doing something remarkable or special. We just have one life, that is all we have and it would be a waste for us to simply eat, drink, breathe and die.
When you give food to street children because you simply wanted to please your religion and save your soul, why not turn it up a notch? Give because you don’t want them to go hungry. When you do your schoolwork with diligence because you simply wanted to be known as your batch’s valedictorian or cum laude, why not bring it up? Study well because you wanted your parents’ efforts to be worth it and so you could become a better person who can serve others competently.
Heroes are made, not born. We were egocentric and it is our lifelong task to crack open our narcissistic shells and break free our hero potentials. Yes, the katipuneros, Rizal, Ninoy, you and I, all of us have hero potentials.
It’s up to you to make it happen. It’s up to you to make yourself a hero.
(Reactions to reylangarcia@yahoo.com)
