Do Real Life Superheroes Exist, And Can You Be One?
Superheroes. There’s a reason they’re so popular. Look at the vastly successful Marvel cinematic series. Each film is quality and worth watching in its own right, but even the formulaic nature of superheroes is not enough to tire the franchise. We have a cultural fascination for superheroes.
Why is this? Well, they play into our deepest ideas about legends, about those we admire and would like to emulate, and those who inspire us to action. Think about the person we would respect through millennia of human history. It would be the strong person of the group, the person who was able to defeat the snakes, or explore the unknown, or to provide for others. We have been noticing virtues in the best people around us for and untold amount of time, and as such this feeling is deep rooted in our psychology.
Could you be this person? Why couldn’t you? This is not something impossible to emulate, as long as you keep yourself to realistic standards. Donning a mask and fighting crime might seem romantic, but it’s likely to get you in trouble. However, there are many more ways of being a superhero than this, even without a billion dollar budget or organic superpowers at your side. It might be you’re already filling this function for someone in your life without knowing.
First of all, you need to be inspired by everything you can be. Consider the greatest women of history, the people who have truly brought something great to the world. You might not have to walk in their shoes, or be in the right place and time of life to do something magnificent. This is one thing the movies get wrong. Heroism is not one simple act, or a monumental effort to defeat a supervillain. In reality, it’s the everyday, the small responsibilities you uphold, the comforting shoulder you give to someone, or the willingness to change things for the better in incremental, realistic ways.
For more inspiring superheroine tips, consider are handy zero-to-hero guide:
Maintaining Yourself
Perhaps only Deadpool would be the Marvel character interested in self-neglect. While many of these heroes are naturally gifted, they also put forth effort towards themselves. This means that you should too. Manage your health. Take care of your mind and stress, meditating as often or as regularly as you can. Begin implementing healthier habits into your schedule. This might mean taking the stairs more than the escalator, or trying to educate yourself on problem foods to cut out. Maintaining yourself could be as simple as taking the extra sugar out of your coffee, or at least contribute to it.
As you begin to do this, you will notice that your mood increases to an impressive degree. Before long you will find yourself seeking a little extra challenge, because you will have worked on yourself enough to sustain that. It’s amazing just what taking care of yourself can do for your motivation, for your interest in the world, and for your general mood. The circuitry that underlies positive emotion is very much tied to our willingness to head out and explore. This can give you purpose, and can help you bring the best of yourself to all of your exploits in the future.
Role Models
Everyone needs a role model. You might have many. When running the last mile of a long run, you might begin thinking of your heroes, or even just the person you would like to become to help you get through that pain. This helps you visualize your ideal in life, and this can both serve as a motivational force, a guiding spirit, and something to help you overcome challenge. However, do you serve as a role model for someone else? If not, might it be you could tailor your actions to allow this? This isn’t a vanity project in the slightest of course, more an effort to help you become a better influence on those around you. After all, that is the only lasting impression you could ever have on this world for the good. Helping someone become inspired is perhaps one of the best things you could do past caring for them or saving them.
How could you be a role model? If you’re a teacher, might it be you infuse your love for the subject in every lesson you teach, allowing passion to drip from every word that you say? Might it be you help a child with accurate compliments and smart criticism on the sports team you coach, helping them develop their strengths and demonstrating potential? Could it simply be you teach your children small lessons to help their behavior, such as the value of not littering, the ability to try again, or the love of cooking a simple meal when they’re of age?
Might it be you change your own behavior, and act as a role model to the extent that you can? For example, you might completely give up drinking and spend that money on a fun little activity each week with your child. You might influence your nephew to work a little harder on their science homework before they return to play their favorite video game. Acting as a role model and guiding influence can happen in many, many ways, and can be an incredibly strong reinforcing factor. You hear stories like this all the time. For example, interns who become great at their careers, such as a Bakers apprentice, can often chart their passion for that subject through encouragement they found early on. It might have been a customer who directed their support to them. ‘Hey, this is a great bagel, keep at it!’ can sometimes be the small spark that ignites a lifelong flame, and helps people define who they are in the long run.
Help
A helping hand can sometimes be a little more than kind words or passion. You never know when you might help save a life, or do something truly heroic. Heroes spring up all the time. Think of James Shaw Jr who saved lives during a shooting at the Tennessee waffle house. He was just a normal person that morning, until he saw an opportunity and went for it. Now, he will have always haved saved those lives. Those people might grow up and live happy lives thanks to him. Nothing can take that away from him, and more importantly the lives of those people can now flourish and become heroes in their own right.
This doesn’t mean you should throw yourself into an active shooter situation. There are many more ways of being a hero, and James Shaw Jr just found what was appropriate for the time. We’re sure he would have displayed that courage in a thousand ways in future, and will continue to do so. For you? Why not consider conducting a BLS certification online, learning first aid, or even volunteering once a week? Remember heroism is in the small acts, and knowledge can help you adapt to certain situations. The more competent you are the better, and excellent knowledge sets like this can really help you out in the long run.
Conclusion
Remember that superheroes are excellent forces for good. You might never grow mutant powers, but you can always be a force for good. The way you act, the manner in which you conduct yourself, the small disciplines in your daily life, or the little efforts you put forth to challenge yourself can shape you into this person without you knowing. Remember that you are always stronger than you think, and as such you can always surprise yourself. With these handy perspectives, you can be a real life superheroine.