Everyday Heros

On the news this evening they convered the continuing story about the sea captain who was captured by pirates off the coast of Somolia. The spokesperson added: when that captain left home to go on this job, he was just an ordinary guy, but he came home a national hero - showing us that anybody ordinary has the potential to become extraordinary.

While it's very true that each and everyone of us has the potential to do something or be someone extraordinary, being a hero doesn't require being extraordinary, doing great deeds or showing uncommon valor.

Being a hero means simply placing someone else's needs above your own. It can can be for a whole crew, a nation, your town, or simply a child or animal who is in need of something you can provide.

Every day there are thousands of unsung heros, ones that take the time and initiative to brighten someone else's day. They volunteer their time to some cause, or simply help an elderly neighbor with the shopping or snow removal. They take time to help a child with homework or learn a new hobby. They take extra time to play a game of fetch or chase the string with a pet.

Everyday heros are sometimes part of a larger movement, but often they work in small, simple ways, often unnoticed by the people around them, let alone the media or the world.

It can even be something as simple as passing on a smile to a stranger on the street.

Each of us should strive to be everyday hero. When our life is through and we look back upon what we have done, very likely we'll see that at least one of those times we only did "a little something" that what we did mattered a lot to someone who needed our help. And it's these "little something" efforts that makes this world a much better place to live.

- ESA