• Embodying the Hero in the 21st Century.
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Before I begin, I would like to make it clear that I do not presume to be close to becoming the person I describe in this article. I wanted to share this very personal ideal because I want it to be criticized, and I want to understand how many others share this aspiration. [B]Every person has life goals and ideals. For many, these are things they want to have, things they want to achieve in life. Lots of young people in North America one day want to have financial security, a house with a two-car garage, a loving family, children, and a job they love. For some, their drive comes from a vision of the kind of person they want to be.[/B] Our generation was raised on stories of heroes. We see them in comic book characters, myths and legends, Hollywood, literature. The stories paint them in many colors and archetypes. Most of them do share common traits, though: A value of human life and human dignity, A selflessness when it counts to be selfless, the ability to master fear when others are paralyzed by it, and often the strength of will to make sacrifices of themselves or their freedoms for the right reasons. We read about heroics in the real world, too - Every so often, average, everyday men and women are faced with a choice, and choose to do the extraordinary for the sake of others. [B]The heroes in fiction and legend almost always had a clear enemy. The forces of Good and the forces of Evil were divided by a bold red line. Some of these heroes stood alone against the darkness. Some of them rallied others behind them to stand united against the threat of that evil. We live in the real world, though. We know that good and evil don't truly exist outside of the minds of men. [/B] Few men are psychopathic. Few men believe themselves evil - In their minds, they will almost always be able to justify their actions, believing they are doing what is right. Yet many of these men do great harm to others. Sometimes, they are driven by an ideology - Their view of the way the world is, and the way they would like it to be. Some are so absorbed by their dreams that they stop seeing what their eyes perceive. Every other person and every other thing becomes, in their mind, subject to their convictions; only because anything that contradicts them is subconsciously dismissed as circumstantial or insignificant. Such people do not see their enemies as human, they see them as monsters. They exist in a world completely removed from reality, even as they live, breathe, and walk among us. Those among this group who are inclined to rash action become what the news and society at large describe as 'terrorists'. It's easy to try to change the world, but it's harder to pick up the pieces. Other men do great harm, and are not blind idealists. There are men and women who hurt or use other people because they have not the will to resist their impulses. They are mastered the heat of their anger, envy, lust, or greed. [B]Good and evil do not exist, but human weakness does. And it bothered me, the boy who read stories of heroes, that I could fall prey to the same weakness just as easily as any other man or woman. Every blind spot in my worldview, every fracture in my will, every guilty indulgence that I knew harmed myself or someone else galled me. They still do. [/B] What, then, makes the hero, the knight, the warrior of both pen and sword? As I grew and learned, my personal aspiration began to take shape. [B]As a man, and as a human being, I understand now that it is not enough to be strong in body and to have strength of will. An unshakable conviction will only drive me to hurt others in the end, because I will stop seeing what is around me and learning from it. No man should be completely sure of himself, and I hope I never become so.[/B] I must be able to accept and respect the will of others, and never be so deluded as to presume I know what is best for someone else. I know now that it is folly to place myself above others in any way, and more foolish still to dismiss any person's views as completely invalid. I must never use any strength, privilege, or power afforded to me in offense, but only in defense of those who are unable to defend themselves. Everyone wants to change the world, but the world cannot be changed without bloodshed, and it can't be changed without hurting other people. No person or being is wise enough to see all ends. Human weakness will always exist, and ideological extremism will always exist, and it is not my part to judge it in others, or try to end it. My identity is evolving as I take small steps towards embodying that ideal of the hero. [B]My goals, as a rule, keep pace with my progress. I hope that I will never stop learning, and that I can become strong. I do this because I can. I do this because life has enough crusaders and soldiers of fortune without my adding to their number, and because there will always be people who have need of strength - I want to be equipped to give it to them. The only power I seek is the power to wake courage in those that have forgotten it. [/B] Facepunch is composed of a lot of introverted young men and women. Introverts aren't necessarily socially lacking. What they do have is a tendency to examine their own nature, and thereby come by an understanding of the nature of others. They are not hot-headed, they are seldom men of action, and they are not ideological or religious zealots. What do they think of my views?
[quote]As a man, and as a human being, I understand now that it is not enough to be strong in body and to have strength of will. An unshakable conviction will only drive me to hurt others in the end, because I will stop seeing what is around me and learning from it. No man should be completely sure of himself, and I hope I never become so.[/quote] I couldn't agree with this more, but it is something I have only learned very recently. I may have hurt a lot of people emotionally back in high school because of the strength of my convictions, and I certainly ostracized myself.
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