Rising Up

Categories: Uncategorized Jun 04, 2014

I have several different superhero shirts. My closet is full of them, much to the displeasure of my wife. Most of the time, I consider them my "good" clothes. You know, when i want to go "out" and have fun, I like to wear one of my "good" shirts. I know it is silly, I think I am stepping out and dressing up by throwing on a Captain America T-shirt.

Anyway, a couple of interesting phenomenas happen when i wear one of my super shirts:
It feels good. I feel good.
I meet strangers.

You would not believe how many people will come up to me and just start talking to me because I am wearing a superhero T-shirt. They smile, they say things like, "Oh! Did you see that movie?", or they simply say, "I like your shirt." And like them, I too, am instantly drawn to others when I see a superhero shirt walking around. I notice it. It calls out to me.

It calls out. What does it say? It says there is an idea, common to many of us, that we were meant to do great things. It says that all of us know deep down inside that it feels good to be super = to be able to help others, to be givers, to be selfless. It also says we all want to be strong, able and capable of rising to any occasion that might need us, good or bad.

Being a superhero is not just an idea that many of us walk around with. It is a seed. A seed that has been planted in most all of us. Some of us are just better at nurturing it than others. Some of us hear the call. Others of us ignore it or dismiss it. Some of us spend hours, days, weeks and years striving and exercising to answer the call, though we have no idea that is the reason we do these things. Others of us simply bury the sounds of the call with the rest of our childhood, only to be stirred, or haunted, here and there by a movie, a book, or a memory of tying a cape around our necks.

Whether or not we nurture this seed inside of us, whether or not we hear the call, it is still there. There is a seed inside of us that says we are made for great things: things of strength, things of bravery, things of honor, things of hope, things of love.

The point of all of this is that is it OK to want to be strong. It is OK to want to be able to rescue your children from enemies, to protect your spouse from danger, to give your life for someone else. It is not only OK, it is a seed deep inside of you. It is who you are. Whether you know it or not.

Why do you think it feels so good to do something nice for someone? Because giving yourself, giving of yourself, is heroic. Smiling at someone who looks angry, or maybe depressed, is an act of bravery. Opening a door for someone is not mere chivalry, it is an act of self-sacrifice. ALL gestures of kindness, of giving, of helping, of loving are heroic acts.

Physical Health Tie In Alert:
When you feel good, when you are healthy. It is easier to answer the call of a hero. It is easier to give outward to others when we are not looking inward at our own issues. Silly, simple things like learning how to move your head, roll on the floor, rock on your hands and feet, and even crawl like a baby, can restore you and make you feel good again. Silly, simple, childish things can allow you to express the seed, the hero, that is inside of you. It may even awaken the hero that you are.

And, if you become awake, even when you don't feel good, even when you have an issue that will one day be gone, you are aware that you are still a hero, no matter how you feel. When you know who you are, it is easier to be who you were meant to be.

And you need to know this, because somewhere, someone needs you. The world needs heroes.

You are meant to be a superhero. You were made for great things. It is the Original You.

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