Heroes push us to better ourselves

Heroes are easy to find but hard to keep.

Especially when we’re young, we need our heroes, or positive role models if you prefer, as examples of what courage, sacrifice and success are all about.

We typically start with our parents, superheroes in our young eyes, while our imaginations gravitate toward mythical beings like the Man of Steel, the Dark Knight or, yes, that proverbial cowboy riding through a time when right was right and wrong was wrong and what you did, not what you said, was who you were.

Parents and action figures are just the beginning of a lifetime of heroes, role models and mentors we meet up with — if we’re lucky.

I had several heroes when I was growing up. My dad was chief among them. I always knew that he loved me unconditionally, but it was those times in which he was proud of me that really inspired me. When he expressed pride in what I had done, I felt strong, like I could be a better man, and it made an indelible mark on my life.

He was my first hero but certainly not my last. Growing up I found faraway heroes in fictional characters such as Superman and the Lone Ranger on television, while other niche celebrities like Bill Montgomery on the Razorbacks’ football field and Jerry Kramer of Green Bay Packers fame (who wrote one of the few books I read as a child) inspired me to be bigger and stronger, to try and be a hero in my own way. Then there were artists and newsmakers, like John Denver and his lyrical reverence for nature, Martin Luther King Jr. and his nonviolent resistance to injustice, and Jesus Christ for his divine selflessness and love for all of humanity. They all made me want to serve the greater good.

Serving the greater good is what a true hero does, and there are plenty of examples of men and women who have done just that. Here in the Southwest, Dolores Huerta, Cesar Chavez and even more controversial historic features like Poncho Villa are still heroes to many. (Perhaps I should mention that heroes are seldom heroes to everyone; that’s part of being a larger-than-life figure in history as well as in contemporary times.)

I’d put Oprah Winfrey and LeBron James high on a list of real-life pop culture heroes, because of what they had to rise above to become the superstars they are today, and what they’ve since given back. But because all humans are flawed, fictional heroes are easier to admire than most celebrities. Just sayin’.

Of course, everyday heroes are found much closer to home. They’re the dad who works all day and then coaches a Little League team into the night, and the mom who works multiple jobs and somehow finds time to create a loving, nurturing home for her children. Or the grandparents who step up to raise their troubled children’s children. Or a host of other rank-and-file givers who are raising the next generation of heroes.

Real-life heroes aren’t always consistent in their values or right in their thinking, but they’re still working for the greater good. Even if they fall, or we simply outgrow them, they push us to be better ourselves. They inspire us into action.

That’s what heroes do. We could use more of them.

Tom McDonald is editor of the New Mexico Community News Exchange. Contact him at:

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