I’m inspired by bigger-than-life heroes: Mother Theresa, Navy SEALs, sports stars, Hollywood legends, musical geniuses. People that have survived astonishing hardships like Louis Zamperini or Marcus Luttrell challenge me to be better. I even root for Toto in The Wizard of Oz!

But there’s a problem with heroes the size of Texas – I’m not.

I’m just plain old me. By comparison, the bigger my heroes get, the smaller I feel.

Somehow, I don’t see Abraham Lincoln hitting the snooze button and pulling a pillow over his head in the hope that this is somehow a 25 hour day. Marcus Luttrell kept going with a broken back and paralyzed legs but I have to take ibuprofen with my morning latte because my back hurts from being dragged by a happy puppy.

James Bond boards a train under fire, commandeers a handy backhoe, rips the top out of the locked car in front of him, leaps aboard and stops to straighten his cuffs. I don’t even have cuffs. I wear t-shirts most of the time.

Note to self: don’t be anywhere near if Agent 007 locks his keys in his car. And don’t ever muss his cuffs.

So, what’s someone like me to do, living in a world of heroes? I mean, most days I don’t even feel like good side-kick material. Possibly the comic relief. Or the hapless star of a YouTube blooper reel.

What people like me need is a starter hero. A hero in training that is a little farther down the road to hero-dom. Because 007 is a bit of a stretch on the first day.

Studies show – I’m not kidding, people studied this – that an outsized hero can be the opposite of inspiration. They can make you feel small and useless.

But you’re not.

Because the problem with superheroes is that they are few and far between. And sometimes fictional. But problems are everywhere.

Rather than bigger heroes, what we need are simply more of them. And in the more common sizes.

As it turns out, these off-the-rack sized examples are plentiful and easier to emulate. They are thinly disguised as average people but don’t be fooled. They are visible to the observant. Just start looking.

Recognize them

Keep your eyes open for humble people, because heroes don’t self-designate. Look for people doing difficult jobs with dignity. They might bring your latte or check your purchases at Wal-Mart.

These are the heroes that matter.

They don’t do what they do for movie star wages or front pages. They do it because it needs to be done. And James Bond is off saving the world and being fictional.

“The most pathetic person in the world is some one who has sight but no vision.”
― Helen Keller

Get Out Of The Way

Once you recognize one of these real heroes, start your hero training by not causing them trouble. Don’t demand things from them as if they were born to serve you, just because they are serving you.

“Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve.
You don’t have to have a college degree to serve.
You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve.
You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”
― Martin Luther King Jr.

Copy Them

Next, begin to emulate them. Do what they do. Learn from them. Lessons on how to win the Superbowl can wait. Start with small things and do them passionately. Find meaning in them.

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
― Theodore Roosevelt

Help Them

Then join them. You don’t have to reinvent heroism. Don’t worry about finding your special calling or your particular gift. Just help out someone that has found theirs. This step may crinkle your ego up a little bit but it will save you a lot of time.

Many people waste time looking for their great mission, their calling, the thing they are willing to die for. As a result a lot of good things don’t get done because they are not great enough to suit our opinion of ourselves.

The point is to forget about yourself and see the needs of others around you. There will be no cameras, no glory and no film at eleven. Get over it. There are things that need to be done. Now.

“Not all of us can do great things.
But we can do small things with great love.”
― Mother Teresa

Become Them

At some point along the way you will slowly turn into someone else’s hero. You won’t accept it. You will brush it off and point to someone else who is doing more. “There’s the real hero,” you will say.

Because that’s how you recognize real heroes. They don’t want the credit. They just want a little help.

“True humility is not thinking less of yourself;
it is thinking of yourself less.”
― C.S. Lewis

 

 Photo by By redjef25 via Flickr