What Is A Hero?
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| By Steve Penny, Author HIRING THE BEST PEOPLE |
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A HERO is Someone Who Shows Great Courage and Strength in the Face of Adversity
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COURAGE is not so Much the Absence of Fear, as the Deeply Held Conviction Something Else is More Important
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HEROES Don't Think of Themselves as Heroes, They Just DO THE RIGHT THING
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| The INNER STRENGTH of Heroes GIVES STRENGTH to Others |
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For whatever challenge you're facing Find Your Hero Within gives you practical, nuts and bolts things you can do to build your personal courage and resiliency
Courage means to "Take Heart". Resiliency is the ability to bounce back and adapt to adversity with more power and more smarts.
Who are Your Heroes - and What Made Them So?
What Made Them Strong and Resilient?
How Did They Grow Over Time from Their Strength?
How Have You Bounced Back from Adversity in the Past?
What Gave You Strength and Resiliency?
What Personal Power Did You Develop as a Result?
Give Strength to Others with 7 Ways to Motivate People that Don't Cost a Penny
In the War on Terror, Citizen Warrior Basic Training arms you with knowledge to protect yourself when the battlefield is your mind
Take strength from our Ancestors. America has a rich heritage of many cultures - including the Native Americans and the Mountain Men who first explored this land - that give us insight into how brave people have overcome formidable obstacles to survive and emerged from their ordeal stronger
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Frontier Hero Kit Carson Once Got Treed by Two Grizzly Bears
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And he didn't exactly have his choice of trees - only the closest one. It was short and stubby - not more than ten or fifteen feet - just barely tall enough to be out of the bear's reach. Those two big grizzlies were on him so fast he was lucky to make it to the tree - but had to drop his gun to climb it.
At first, when they'd try to come up the tree at him roaring and biting he said, "They could commit no execution."
Then one of the bears got smart and started digging to uproot the tree - and of course, him along with it. And he sat there in that little tree all afternoon - watching this big grizzly bear just diggin', and diggin', and diggin' - hoping to have him for dinner.
He was hoping, of course, they'd get tired and give up. He was hoping the sun would go down and they'd just go away. Fact was - he didn't know. Fact is, we never know what's going to happen next. That's a given.
No one is promised tomorrow.
So be honest now and ask yourself - because you may be facing a similar situation of some kind in your own life.
What would you do if you were up a short tree - with a big grizzly bear diggin' it up to have you for dinner?
If you knew you had a very short time to live - what would you do? How you answer that question defines your core values - what you care about the most.
That's the place where courage is found - because courage means to take heart.
It's how you summon your resolve and resiliency. No matter what frontier you're on it's your resiliency - the ability to bounce back from adversity smarter and tougher - that's what it takes to stay alive.
Probably fair to say, lotta folks up that tree would become preoccupied by their lack of opportunity. Start slipping into "O poor me."
But self pity's an attitude that just doesn't shine with Mountain Men. No room for it outdoors. That's how liven' outdoors keeps you honest. You can't fool nature. When it's in your face - you gotta face it!
What Kit Carson knew from living with Indians was about "Acting Fearless" to build courage and resiliency. How to fight fear and stay focused when things get tough.
That's not to say not feeling fear - everybody does. Kit Carson freely admitted he had "Never been so badly scared in my life" as when those bears had him up that tree. Only difference between a Hero and a coward is what they do with their fear.
Kit Carson knew Acting Fearless means CHOOSING TO BE IN CONTROL OF YOUR FEAR - not letting fear control you.
Part of Acting Fearless is knowing so long as you have breath in your body YOU HAVE CHOICES, and how you choose to think about anything's everything because that's where your power lies - the POWER OF YOUR CONVICTION TO CHOOSE - even when your choices may seem narrowed to how you think about what's happening to you.
Acting Fearless is about ANCHORING YOURSELF IN THE PART OF YOURSELF THAT'S BIGGER THAN YOURSELF - what you put your faith in - your values.
What principles do you champion? What are the things you care about the most? Where are your reserves of moral strength you draw upon in tough times?
IT'S YOUR CHOICES THAT DEFINE YOU. No one or nothing can take that from you.
CONFRONT ADVERSITY EMBRACING THOSE VALUES.
Part of Acting Fearless is about RECOGNIZING WHAT IS "A GIVEN" - what you have to accommodate your attitude to.
Think Kit Carson sat there in that little tree all afternoon thinking "Oh poor me. I wish I was in that big tree over there." What good would that do?
No - that short stubby tree was a given - just something he had to get used to.
And Kit Carson lived to tell this tale. The bears finally went off - though he stayed up that tree for a long, long time to be sure.
He was a Hero - because he knew he had one in him.
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