Reading Shelaugh Begg’s “Inside Out” column (pg. 49) really got me thinking. I had to ask myself: who is my hero? My mind went blank for a moment and I suddenly felt a nervous twitch, not knowing who it was supposed to be.
But then, in a split second, I realized that my heroes are all around me and they have carried me through to my ’40s. I couldn’t pick just one!
We all need heroes, whether it’s a family member, a sports figure, a politician or a journalist. I can remember a few years ago reading about Cathy Black, former president of the Hearst Corporation and called the first lady of American magazines (Hearst Magazines such as Cosmo and O, The Oprah Magazine) in the book Basic Black. It was an amazing read, and for about a week she was my inspiration, she was my hero and every so often when I need a boost I read about her all over again.
I think sometimes we might get jaded by talk of heroes as some of our icons keep falling from grace in politics, business and sports. But I think some have to flounder: that way we learn more about who we are and who we want to be. As we strive to become a better leader, a better mother, a better person, it will help to have heroes – great leaders you respect, relate to and get roused up by. There is a big lesson we can learn from our heroes: they are all hungry enough to dream big dreams and to pursue them, despite all odds.
Do you have dreams of how people, products, technologies, organizations or communities could be different and better than they are today? Do you let these dreams die away when the world doesn’t support or cheer you on? Do you succumb instead of pursuing the lesser dreams of others because you get discouraged? Isn’t there something for all of us to learn from great leaders – our heroes – about the power of dreaming and relentlessly pursuing the impossible, especially when it feels so right, deep down inside us?
I’m on this journey with you and I invite us all to stay in this conversation and explore it together: How can I be a hero?
“True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic.
It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost,
but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.” – Arthur Ashe
Happy Holidays from all of us at Seaside Magazine!
