Heroes

We all need heroes.  Yep, that's right - you, me, everybody.  Dionysus, god of wine, admitted, in The Last Olympian, by Rick Riordan,  that even the gods need heroes.  Every one is in need.  Why, we might ask?  Heroes save us, sometimes literally, sometimes figuratively, and they also give us hope.  There comes a time in each of our lives when we run out of our own strength and need to look to someone else.
Some people will be looked at as heroes for the rest of eternity, while others may only be considered a hero for a few years, months, weeks, days, or even just moments.  Our heroes who are dead are easy to call heroes, but to call someone who is living, a hero, really takes greatness.  When people die, we generally pass over most of their flaws and focus on the positive things, and then call them heroes, assuming they were always one.  When we remember them, we sum up their lives by calling them heroes.  Why can't we do that when people are living?  Why can't we looked past their flaws and see them for the heroes they are, unless they do some grand, amazing, incredible thing?  We are so quick to pounce on people once they make a mistake, that it really comes as no surprise you don't hear many persons being regarded as a hero anymore...  Yet every day, you hear that somewhere, somebody does something heroic, but that's different.  They make the newspaper or television for jumping in a pool to save someone, for standing in the line of fire, for pulling a friend out of trouble, and other heroic acts.  And when asked about it, they just say something like, "It's nothing," or "It's my duty," or even, "Hey, nobody's that heartless!"  
Dictionary.com calls a hero 1) a person of distinguished courage or ability, admired for their brave deeds and noble qualities, and 2) a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal.  One word sticks out to me in each of those definitions: 'and'.   It's not just the acts performed, it's also a person's character that makes a hero.

Some of my heroes are ordinary people, who, yes, do extraordinary things occasionally, but are those who stand up for what is right, even when they're standing alone; those who know what they believe, and live it, even during testing times; those who have everything bad tossed at them, yet somehow make it through with a smile on their face and encouraging words on their lips...  Some of my heroes are my neighbors, some are in my ward, some I even taught in my classroom.  Heroes are everywhere, because we each need them.
So, next time you need a hero, maybe a little closer than those who are serving our great country, or those who have passed on, look around - the hero you need may be closer than you think ;)