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Will the Real Heroes Please Stand Up The world today is filled with great heroes. Unfortunately, our culture has a tendency to confuse hero worship with the character of a true hero. How then, is a hero defined? Is it someone who is brave, honest and who s attributes are beneficial to society? Or is it someone rich, famous or physically strong? Does being able to score the winning basket make you a hero, or how about hitting a grand slam when your team is down by 3 in the bottom of the ninth?
In this day and age our selec- tion of what constitutes a hero is often misguided. The real heroes often exist around us but receive little recognition in comparison to their rich and famous piers. Contrary to popular belief, a hero can be anyone. It s someone who is noble, caring, selfless and does not seek recognition for what they do.
Following his fairly recent death, Joe Dimaggio, the great baseball player for the New York Yankees was portrayed by the media as well as others as a true American hero. What exactly was it that made him into this hero? Yes, he was a great baseball player but is that enough? Is it sufficient enough to say that because he could smack a 90 mile an hour fast ball into left field and run the bases in record time that he s a hero? Is it sufficient enough to say then that because Mark McGwire can hit 70 home runs in one single season that he s now a hero? According to who?
The truth is that yes, these athletes, pre madonnas, whatever you wish to call them are all talented. But is this talent worthy of the hero statues they are given? I am indeed a huge sports fan, and it is from this tremendous amount of support that I give to my favorite team the Yankees that I have personally come to the realization that above average talent does not make you a hero. Being able to pitch a perfect game or throw out the last out are all great talents but how can we possibly say they are worthy enough to be compared with the work of a great hero such as Mother Theresa? I suppose also that we must not forget that playing professional sport is a lot harder then we think. Besides we are forgetting that athletes today do have enough to worry about.
For example even while they re playing and sleeping they must wonder what to do with their $ 95 million dollars they just received in that 5 year deal. Or where they ll put their next luxury car. Or how about the long road trips from city to city. And even with all that, we the fans, have the audacity to ask them for their autographs and occasionally even forget to bring cash.
Sure we have their posters up on our walls and their sports cards tucked away in our drawers but common, how much can one person give until it reaches the point of insanity? Yes, it s true that not all athletes behave like this. There are the occasional ones who do appreciate their hero statutes and may actually live up to it. They may use their fame and fortune to help others.
But let s be honest. If all the rich and famous did actually live up to this why would it then be such a big deal when they do something worthy of this title? I do also understand that many people, even though they are given the hero title did not chose this. Many did not start to play professional sport or get into the entertainment business to be considered a hero, but instead to have a career and make money. But at the same time, you may not have chose it but it s still there, people still look up to you and that is just something that comes with the territory. One thing I do know is that athletic achievement alone does not make a hero, contrary to what today s society believes.
A hero, in my book is someone courageous or noble and someone who sacrifices for others. We have heroes all around us, but unfortunatly we re to busy admiring the rich and famous athletes, singers and actors to honor them. Most police officers are heroes, regardless of how many speeding or parking tickets they give us. They are the ones who protect us from the murderers, robbers, drug dealers and kidnappers. They don t receive millions of dollars, although somehow are still able to do their job. Without them, we d all need security systems at home and most of us would have to carry guns.
You can t say that would happen without today s superstars now can you? Or how about the firefighters? They are the ones that risk their very own lives to help save ours. Without hesitation, they rush into 150 degree heat to save us everyday. This is their job, to saves lives.
Probably the most unselfish profession today and lets be honest, when s the last time you saw a breakfast cereal or a chocolate bar with a firefighters picture on it? Now, let s ask ourselves again, why is that? Why is it that we give more appreciation to the basketball player that attempts to strangle his coach or the baseball player who takes performance enhancing drugs then the firefighters? Most people in the military are also heroes and so are our veterans. We owe our freedom to them. They fought in wars and risked their lives, just so you and me could be alive today.
Everything we say and do we owe to them. Without their courageous efforts none of us would lead the lives we do today. They left their homes at 17 and 18 years old. Fought for us in unbearable conditions and risked their lives so we could be free. They didn t seek recognition but instead fought selflessly. Now doesn t that sound more like a real hero?
Volunteers are heroes as well, especially those who volunteer to serve the poor. Every year millions upon millions of people donate their time and effort to help fight world hunger, disease, and build homes for those without them. Mother Theresa was one of the biggest heroes we ll ever see. She dedicated her whole life to helping others, she fed them, sheltered them, cleaned their wounds, but most important she made them feel good, loved and wanted. And you get bet she never charged for a picture. Or what about Princess Diana, she was a person who gave hope and acceptance to those who were sick and with AIDS, or Elizabeth Glaser who founded the Pediatric Aids Foundation.
Not to mention Oseola McCarty, a true hero who donated her life savings so others could go to collage or Ann Armstrong Dailey who began the Children s Hospice International. And finally the brave souls like Terry Fox, he was a young man who lifted a nation through his courage and tenacity. Now ask yourself this, out of those 6 names how many did you recognize? If you hadn t heard of almost all of them then we defiantly do have a problem. Most teachers are heroes too. They spend their lives educating others.
Without them what kind of lives would we live? They teach us essential skills. Skills that will help us know what we need to make it in this world. They spend extra time with us when we don t understand and help us to learn. These are the people who deserve this title, and no one else. These are the real heroes and it s about time our society realized this.
We ought to give awards to these people on national TV, like we give Oscars to actors and Grammys to musicians. We ought to give them standing ovations. We ought to tell them that they are the real heroes.
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Research essay sample on Rich And Famous Mother Theresa
