Jennifer's Dictionary: Hero

I’ve been thinking about the definition of the word hero quite a bit recently.  I’m in the middle of a huge book on American history, starting with Columbus and going forward, and seeing the heroes that dot my country’s history, going back to the rumblings of revolution, has brought this to the forefront for me.   And while I have not actually seen the Chris Hayes video (nor do I want to watch it), I am aware of it, and his thoughts on soldiers and heroes.

With that in mind, my own definition of hero is probably not the same as everyone else’s. 

It is human nature, when there is a catastrophe, when something goes horribly wrong, when there is danger, to run the other way.  That adrenaline rush you get when you’re startled is that famous flight or fight response, and most of us are hardwired to take flight in the face of fear, not stand and fight back. Or you freeze in place.  Torn between flight or fight, your brain shuts down, you can’t process everything fast enough, and you end up with your feet locked onto the ground, unable to move. 

But there are a few, who facing a threat of any kind, a burning building, a car wreck, an armed man robbing a police station, a bleeding and broken person, who will fight against that fight or flight instinct, and instead, set out to help someone.  No matter the personal cost, no matter what they have to put on the line, in the effort to protect the rest of us, they put themselves on the line. 

That is the definition of a hero.  Not someone who waves the flag, talks about how patriotic they are, but someone who stands up against fear and chaos, and protects those around him (or her.)  When you stand up against the ingrained flight reflex, when what you want and who you love become secondary to saving someone, to protecting us all, then you are a hero.

Those of us who spend our lives tucked in our safe homes, and who never have to fight back against that fear, which never have to worry about protecting the innocent or fighting back against the inherent evil in the world; we can safely sit and debate the definition of hero.  We can frame it against terms of just war or unjust war, or complain about police over-using force in their fight for crime. 

But the heroes of the world, the everyday heroes, they continue to do their job, as we continue to argue over our views of it.  That is the essence of a hero, the armchair philosophers of the world can say what they will,but they will continue on. 

~Jennifer

My personal hero.