See the Superheroes Around You

I don't share this much but I have two chronic pain diseases, one of which I have been learning to manage for 14 years and one that has just joined my life this year. While those around me see me as a warrior and I've been called 'power ranger strong', there are times when I feel very small, weak, afraid, and alone.

While learning that might not immediately seem like something that would empower you to excel in your life and your career, or see me as a superhero, I would ask you to think about that again in terms of the context of the people around you and about what you do each day. There are heroes everywhere....you are a hero.

Being a hero does not take massive feats of strength, ability to leap tall buildings, or defeat monsters real and imagined. A hero gets out of bed each morning and faces the odds; he or she faces the scary and overwhelming things that life deals out -- bills, bankruptcy, illness, divorce, infidelity, working 9 to 5, having a happy life -- and keeps putting one foot in front of the other. Whether silent or vocal, visible or invisible, each person makes a difference....you make a difference. Your presence and life can make a difference to those around you. Today you could touch someone and change their life forever. Today you could be one second from your miracle -- your moment of herodom.

Look at those around you, the silent, the vocal, the visible, the invisible and see the superhero within them. Each person has their charm, their gift, their light and life where they make a difference. It might be taken for granted simply by the job you do each day or the smile you give a stranger, but it changes the world. Little or big, your actions make you a hero in your survival, your strength, your kindness, and your weaknesses.

It is OK to feel small, weak, alone, angry, or scared -- we all fight our own monsters, real or imagined each and every day. But, it's important to remember that at the end of the day you survived the fight, you did not retire, you lived through the fire -- you were the conquerer, the warrior, ranger-strong -- you were the superhero!