Last week Wesleyan College had homecoming week and the theme for Tuesday was “Heroes and Villains”. If someone had asked me a couple of weeks ago how I would define heroism, I would have come up with probably three categories of hero: the lifesaver, the idol, and the mentor.
A lifesaver could be someone who literally saved your life, like a firefighter or Mathew McConaughey in that movie “The Wedding Planner” (or who is otherwise rescuing you in some kind of dramatic way). An idol could be a fictional character you looked up to through your whole childhood, or it could be a real-life humanitarian or rock star whose story inspired you.
A mentor, of course, could be anyone who influenced you and/or guided you in anything from school to relationships to career goals. These are pretty easy to to think of as heroic acts in some way.
However, I want to add a fourth category of hero: the random. Random heroes are the people who pop up every now and then and somehow make things better, even if only a little bit.
I’ve had a pretty not-great past couple of weeks, and each day seems worse in some degree than the last did. It’s gotten to the point where those who know me can see in my face that something is wrong, and when I exchange pleasantries and someone asks how I am, the normal, automatic responses that normally just flow out of my mouth are not automatic anymore. I can’t bring myself to say, “I’m good, thanks,” or even just “I’m tired” (another frequent response among my classmates). I know that it will pass, but it has made me very grateful for the small moments of good when heroes emerge at just the right times. I have the most amazing friends and supportive classmates I think anyone could ask for. Here are some heroic acts that have saved me in small moments throughout the last couple of weeks:
Several people made me laugh, a real, deep-in-my-gut laugh, not just a chuckle before moving on in a conversation.
My close friends let me ramble, and rant, and freak out, and then they hugged me long and hard.
Multiple people have actually offered me some really great hugs that made me feel warm and safe for a minute.
One close friend successfully distracted me from the mess and stress, multiple times throughout the last week.
A lot of these heroic acts were not performed out of a desire to be heroic. Some of them weren’t even directed at me. Nonetheless, the people in my life who listened to me, or made me laugh, or hugged me, or distracted me, or whatever, are my heroes and always will be.
If you’re reading this, I won’t put you on the spot, but if you think it might be about you, it probably is. So, thank you.
You’re my hero.