Why Are Normal People Heroes?

I had this simple note jotted on my phone.

“Why are normal people heroes?”

I’m not sure in what context I wrote it down but it struck me again as I read it today.

Our culture has glorified mediocrity to such an extent that now everyone is a “hero.”

You’re a man who wants to be a woman? You’re a hero. You’re an athlete who does one good thing? You’re a hero. You did something rebellious? You’re a hero.

You did literally anything besides waste your life? You’re a hero.

It all goes back to the participation award movement. There was a need for kids to feel validated, so instead of giving the kid with extraordinary character an award, the award went to the whole class so that they would all feel good.

The thinking being that if every kid feels that they are seen and praised that they’ll do better in life. They’ll become a hero.

The Incredibles was way ahead of its time on this one.

The problem with making everyone a hero is that as soon as everyone is a hero, no one is. You’ve taken the whole meaning away from the word and you’ve stomped on the names of the people who are true heroes.

I know everyone has a different standard of hero and mine is going to look different from the guy sitting next to me who looks like he took a bath in tattoos. I get it. We look up to different people, but can we stop glorifying people that don’t deserve it?

And most of all, can we stop telling kids that they are heroes when they haven’t done anything? Yes. Affirm them. Yes. Encourage them. Yes. Tell them that if they work hard and go after something they can achieve it. Yes. Tell them they don’t need to please any human.

But by telling people they’re “perfect” or “don’t need to change a thing,” you’re not helping anyone. If anything, you’re only influencing people more to rely on the opinions of others rather than craft their own narrative in which they truly can go be the hero of the story.

Let’s help encourage real heroism for this world that so desperately needs it, not create a world full of people who have never heard the word courage.