Heroism

There have been two school shootings in America in the last few months. During the Florida shooting, a student who is now being hailed as one of the heroes of that fateful day, JROTC Peter Wang, helped other students escape and died doing so. Anthony Borges, 15, used his body to shield his classmates from the shooters bullets, and was shot five times in the back and legs in the process. He is still recuperating from surgeries.

These two scenarios are striking for me because they happened recently and the people involved are young people. What makes people go out of their way in this manner? What stimulates empathy that moves one to act in this manner?

I am deeply introspective. When things happen, I find myself thinking 'extra' about the whys. I admired deeply the fine sense of heroism of these young people. I kept asking if I could do that, if I could put the possibility of a future on this earth to ensure two, three, four other people got that chance.

Can you? Can you do this? Is it a special gift, a way people are raised, values imparted, examples shown ? 
Do you only have to save lives or avert disasters to bear the tag of a hero?

Yesterday, at Lekki 3rd roundabout, I saw a taxi driver wrestling to extinguish a fire that threatened to engulf his cab. Everyone swerved to the right and  left of him and sped along. I thought of my fire extinguisher in my boot and attempted to stop and hand it to him, until I saw some fellow cab drivers hurrying up to hand him theirs and put out the fire. Why did these people stop? Why did others drive along? 

Heroism nudgdings comes in bursts too, I guess. There are moments when I am filled with great indignation driving along the express and have physically confronted one questionable official who was chasing a young hawker down a busy expressway.  There are other moments when I put up my glass window, blast my music; unseeing, unhearing to injustices around me.

Can I be a true, consistent, hero? Can you be? 
Literature suggests that people carry out acts, big and small, of heroism daily. Certain characteristics including compassion, empathy, a strong sense of responsibility, justice and integrity are common in the making of heroes. 
The nature vs nurture question beckons too. Are heroes born or made?

Projects like the Heroic Imagination Project have made a fine art of training people to be everyday heroes. This San Francisco not- for-profit develops and implements research, education and corporate and public initiatives to inspire and encourage everyday heroism. One interesting mantra they have is that the opposite of a hero is not an evil person, but a bystander. 
This is very similar to the saying we know that;  the opposite of love is indifference. Not necessarily, hate!
I would talk more about this in coming posts, as I'm so fascinated about this issue. But for starters, I want to know what heroic acts you have performed in the past and also the things that keep you from being heroic. Is there a Nigerian factor somewhere? Is gender standing in the way? Social standing ?

Talk to me.

Bless.

♥

Baby Steps

Hi,
How are you?
I haven't blogged in 7 years. Yes, it's been that long. I can't believe it, but the internet doesn't lie☺.
I want to start again.
I have missed writing and in my recent quest for things that make me happy, I remembered this.

The next thing, is what I'll write about. 8 years ago, I wrote short stories, newspaper articles and so on. This time around, I think I'll be less structured and just write about what my opinion is on any matter I find interesting.

Why should you read?
Well, you read before, that's one.☺
You also might learn a thing or two to help you in your life's journey. I have had quite a bit of stuff that has happened to me in the last 8 eight years. Amazing things and not so amazing things.  I met someone in church last Sunday who told me that Africans lose out on learning lessons from the lives of other Africans because we don't like sharing our lives. That rang true.  So I'm going to be more open cos , hey, who knows?

I'll blog tomorrow again. But , before I go, I'll say this. You are unique, diferent!  Yes! Cliche, right?
No! You know that feeling of emptiness you have when you wonder what your life should be about and why you're not 'making' it like other people? It's a deception. The very thing that makes you 'make' it is the  unique gift bag you received from the Creator when you were born. A gift bag much like a hamper contains an assortment of goods; and this can be likened to the blend of  personality, talents, idiosyncracies  that you are made up of. They hold the key to your destiny and the purpose you are to fulfill here on earth. The knowledge of this has been so liberating for me and I can't help but share this with you. 

You are different. You have something your siblings, parents, co workers,  friends need. It is not regular, not common, not random. It is unique to you. You probably already know this and are doing it, but do it more purposefully, cheerfully and liberally and watch yourself blossom. 

Tomorrow, then. ♥