Hero's...

I've found the year I've been officially "retired" to be busier than the proverbial fox in the unguarded hen-house.  There has been no shortage of work to do.  Planning a huge move into a self-designed house, across the country, wrapping up the loose ends of a business sale, insuring things are settled in Phoenix since I won't be driving there regularly any longer... downsizing not only my own life, but Brenda's and Anna's too.  Saying farewell's to long time friends, hello's to old/new ones, to the more mundane aspects of life in general.  Getting groceries, finishing work that should have been done by the people that were hired to do it, right down to clearing snow from the decks and driveway.

Yup lots to do.

In all this, I've been working at keeping grounded, having some sense of order in what has amounted to truckloads (and trailer) of chaos much of the time.  Just yesterday my Warn winch abruptly stopped working while I was on the last swipes of road-clearing.  That took several hours to diagnose.  Gave me satisfaction in doing it.  Working on my Triumph (bike) getting it roadworthy in anticipation of a summer's riding this old hood.

During all this time, I do my best to stay in touch with friends old and new.  After all, we are social creatures aren't we.  Just yesterday I talked via telephone to perhaps my longest living friend Rusty, back in Calgary, and my oldest PEI friend Mike stopped by for a chat as well.  

Something Mike said stuck in my mind.  In the course of the conversation he said "you're my hero..."

Sure we often use such terms describing certain characteristics of people, as in the Darwin Awards (look it up) "That guy is an idiot!" or "He's not the sharpest pencil in the drawer..." or "He's got a horseshoe up his butt..." or, "He's my hero..." 

We hear this stuff everyday in some context or other and most often it really slips by without thought.  In the course of our conversation, Mike was referring to some of the motorcycle travels over my lifetime, something I have heard before although not necessarily in those words.

This morning, after the snowplow finally came by clearing out drifted over, dead end in winter, County Line Rd, I got to thinking.  In fact I looked up the definition in my online Oxford's dictionary as seen below.

Definition of hero

noun (plural heroes)

• 1 a person, typically a man, who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities: a war hero
• the chief male character in a book, play, or film, who is typically identified with good qualities, and with whom the reader is expected to sympathize: the hero of Kipling’s story
• (in mythology and folklore) a person of superhuman qualities and often semi-divine origin, in particular one whose exploits were the subject of ancient Greek myths.

• 2 (also hero sandwich) North American term for Hogie
  
  
  So here's what I know... I'm not a sandwich although at times I'm between a rock and a hard place.  As far as I know, I have not been the chief male character in a book or play, unless you can call a life as such.  Nor have I ever worn a uniform. 
  Some people considered Baron Von Richthofen to be a hero during WW1 while others thought of him as just a killer.  I certainly don't qualify on either of those accounts, so what was MJ thinking?  Why would he think I qualify even to him?  As far as I can recollect... I haven't saved anyone from drowning, nor climbed Everest or even written the Great American novel, and I'm certainly not a fighter pilot!  I'm pretty ordinary, in fact... boringly so. In the strictest definition, I am certainly no hero.
  
  
  I will answer my own question this way.  Many of us look up to someone that is doing something that we ourselves could see us doing but for whatever reason, don't.  It may not be death defying as a fighter pilot, nor glamorous as a Hollywood movie star.  In fact in could be something as simple as watching a swimmer gliding with little effort across a pool.  Maybe seeing a talented person playing a musical instrument or singing a melody.  More likely to me, its knowing that there are people out there (as opposed to sandwiches) that are doing things for the planet or community that are selfless and beneficial. Those are the people that I consider to be my hero's and heroine's... 
  
  
  I guess in someone's eye, we are all Hero's to some extent.  It could be a child's, a friends, or a co-worker.  Point I think Mike was making was this; 'you can do something that just may end up inspiring someone else'  
  
  
  Live your life to suit who you are.  By doing so, you will encourage others to think outside the box, take a few risks, set some goal or other, and be my hero...