Real Heroes Wear No Cape, They Take Responsibility
Where are The Avengers, Black Panther, the Justice League when we need them the most? Shouldn’t they be saving the world, saving us right now? Of course, they are not real. They are heroes, but they’re fictional characters. And yet, I guess you wish they weren’t.
As a millennial, it was great to watch these superheroes accomplish what no other normal human could ─lifting heavyweights, ceasing massive fires, controlling metals, and counting. But, as we grow up, we start facing brutal facts, things we were not accustomed to, realities that are far different from those in the movies, and they all sum up to this: There’s no one out there to clean up your mess. It’s your job to make things right.
Eventually, it is easy to say but so hard to do. Take for example conflicts between countries, oftentimes, we rely on the United Nations to settle those disputes. Or climate change as a worldwide issue, and we count on climate change activists to bring awareness on the latter subject. And even with gender exclusion and inequality, still we rely on feminists and civil right activists to fix it all. The point is that we create problems and we desperately await others to fix them.
That’s what it is to grow up with a one-man-can-do-it-all mentality, one that holds us back when we should step in to offer worthwhile solutions. Yet, that’s quite the opposite we’ve learned from Marvel superheroes, this sense of quietness knowing there’s a superman to repair our wrongdoings. What a pity!
For centuries we have caused more harm than good to our peers, our communities, consequently our planet. And who is there to fix that? Our brave firefighters, policemen, our restless teachers, our tenacious civil right fighters. But guess what? They wear no cape, they take responsibility.
Yes, they are risk-takers. They are these strong mothers who give up everything to raise their children. They are the health care workers risking their lives so they can take care of others. They wear no cape, they wear masks. They are the scientists and entrepreneurs working tirelessly on plant-based foods to reduce climate change consequences and so many other well-intended innovative techniques and tools we know nothing about.
Heroes are each and every one of us who consciously realizes that we have done enough and we should now take care of our home, Earth. Needless to say that the world today will not be the same in years to come, so, our desire to make this planet a better place should not change because that is our duty.
In fact, a common observation to point out is that the existence of problems is not a problem in itself but the lack of responsible people to tackle them is. That’s why being a real hero is about being responsible and embracing the risks that come along.
As Jack Canfield puts it in his bestseller, The Success Principles©, “We never want to look at where the real problem is ─ourselves.” Being a hero is no big deal. It’s about spotting what needs to be done and act accordingly; it’s moving forward against the odds, seizing the opportunities for your own sake and your community.
