How to be a Super Hero

  A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.
-Joseph Campbell

As children, we’ve all had dreams of one day becoming Batman or joining the X-Men, but as we grow up, we soon learn these are pretty impractical lifestyles and move on.  So life goes on, our experiences begin to shape our reality and self-interest far exceeds the interest of society.  After all, this does make sense. We do need to compete in order to survive, right?  Well, let’s take a look at that again.  If the world is a better place, who does that benefit?  Society as a whole, and guess what, you’re part of society too.  So doing your part to help in ANY little way you can is enough to move society an inch forward. 

The Bystander Effect: (The more people present in a time of crisis, the less likely someone is to intervene.)  Now we’ve all heard of this phenomena and we all have mixed views about it from “It’s not my business” to “I would have helped if I was there!”.   The reality of it is that we’ll never know exactly how we will act until we are actually in a situation like that.  That being said, humans are social, creative creatures who have the power to think critically.  If everyone is out for themselves, society will not be able to function optimally and lots of unnecessary problems are created and a lot of existing problems are left unsolved.  As I mentioned in an earlier blog entry, the fear of standing out is so great that it’s probably the biggest cause of inaction, that’s why we have to put ourselves in those uncomfortable situations and form positive habits like critical thinking and individual problem solving.  If we can pass all of these lazy habits and tendencies and develop habits based on the developing and carrying society forward, it will benefit us in the long run.  Remember, short term discomfort: long term success.  So if you see a bag of trash on the floor, pick it up or if someone looks like they need a hand, offer your service.  Kind gestures are contagious, but it has to start with you!  If more people become encouraged to help, others will join in too from the fear of being the only one who isn’t helping at that point.  We can use that fear of standing out to our advantage. 

This is our world and we’re in it together, we got this far together, not through competition, but through creation.  If we begin to see ourselves as individuals, not as a whole community, a single organism, then we will begin spiraling away from the natural order of things and our society will become more and more chaotic.  In real life, the real super heroes are the ones who contribute to society and move us all forward.   It’s nice that Superman saves the damsel in distress, but an idea, a passion started by ONE person and spread, can save the world.