A Guidance System for Heroes in Training

Photo taken from a blog by David Darmano, without advanced permission. I just liked it so much I had to steal it....

Motivation:

"Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow."
~Ronald E. Osborn

Diary:

I am exhausted, but exhilarated. The last few weeks have included a new job, a new workout routine, a re-dedication of my training and healthy living plan, and new revelations for me about who I am and who I want to be. I have been working very hard to stay above water, but my arms are tired. I remember a swimming instructor once telling me "When your arms can't keep going, just float for a little while - then start again." I haven't gotten to the float point, but I feel it coming around soon.

Sunday afternoon, I attended a reunion of the "Small Course in Christianity" group, where we met new people who had been through the experience, as well as people who went through it with me. I have a very special bond with this group, and sometimes I forget about the inspiration and commitment that I feel from this experience. Going to these reunions reminds me of a few things:

1. God wants to shower us with his Grace - abundantly, incessantly, constantly.
2. Grace is different than Love. Grace involves a different action than Love. Receiving Grace can be an overwhelming experience.
3. The more I uncover God's plans, I can only laugh at my own innocence. Jeremiah 29:11 states "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
   

That was the 3rd time this week that I heard this verse repeated. All three times It felt like I was being directed to "patience, calm, and peace". That still small voice was telling me that I was going to be ok, if I would just open my eyes to the possibilities.

It was as if I was asking for an answer to my problems, and being told that the answer is coming, but I am not ready for it quite yet. I am reminded that when God makes us wait, we should not consider this to be wasted time. It is time to serve, and be served and continue to grow for the answer to be delivered. Since we don't know how or through whom the answer will be sent, we may be strangely surprised with who our messengers are. I have received messages from the most unlikely places, merely because I was open to listening and taking hold of the opportunity that has been set before me.

I was asked this weekend "Who was your childhood hero?", "What does it take to be a hero?", "What are the attributes and character of a hero?" and finally, "Are you a hero to someone else?" A group of people and I had a discussion on this topic over the weekend.

My first thought to this question was to ask myself "What is the difference between a hero and a role model?"

According to the dictionary a hero is the following:

• a person distinguished by exceptional courage and nobility and strength
• the principal character in a play or movie or novel or poem
• a champion: someone who fights for a cause

A role model is defined as:

• someone worthy of imitation

So there seems to be some differences here, but the one thing that does remain similar is the point of "implied value" in the two definitions. A Hero has "nobility", which could be defined as "the quality of elevation of mind and exaltation of character or ideals or conduct". Elevation of Mind, Exaltation of Character, Ideals or Conduct! What a great way to describe something. Another definition of Nobility speaks of being in a privileged class of people, such as a royalty. I really like the idea of describing Nobility by the action of improving your mind, character and conduct. That means that we ALL can have Nobility in our lives, by striving to improve ourselves and our world view.

The definition of Role Model includes the word "worthy". Worthy is defined as "having worth or merit or value; being honorable or admirable." We admire those whom we wish to imitate. We may have jealousy or covet others position in life, but only rarely do we find those whom we see as having such merit that we want to copy their actions and implement their ideals into our daily lives.

When asked, I didn't know if I had a "Hero" when I was a child, but I can state this - the people whom I wished to be around, emulate, and admired were those who treated me as a loved one. They invited me into their lives, shared their homes, tables, and time with me. My heroes were people who showed encouragement to me and were positive and giving of themselves, even if they were under stress and grief.

Are you a hero to someone? I knew the answer was "Yes", because I have heard people tell me this face to face. I haven't stopped a speeding locomotive, or saved someone from a burning building (which a cousin of mine actually HAS done, isn't that great!), but I have been told by many people how I am a role model, and a few have indicated that I am a hero. Hero? Really? For what?

During the discussion about "What are the attributes of a hero?" The flow went sort of like this:

1. A Hero is someone who is "destined for greatness"
2. A Hero rises to the moment. When there is distress, a hero steps in to save the day.
   
3. We read the story of Esther and thought about how we are put into situations where we have moments that we can affect. Esther was in her situation due to her physical beauty, wisdom, love for others, and courage to make the right choice. We stopped at Esther 4.14 and discussed what it means "for such a time as this."
4. We considered at a quote from Erwin Mcmanus: "If a moment is the gate through which your divine journey begins, then choice is the key that unlocks the adventure. That's the mystery of a moment. It is small enough to ignore and big enough to change your life forever. Life is the sum total of what you do with the moments given you."
5. We decided that one attribute of a Hero is to expect and look for the moments we are given and seize those moments with anticipation and pride and positivity.
6. Being open to little moments in our lives may require preparation. In order to battle the moments, little and big, we have to start planning for our actions in these moments. When we have mastered the little moments, we may be ready for the big moments.
   

You may be able to see where I am going with this. Eventually, out discussion continued to talk about what it takes to be prepared for moments. Does one just "become" a Hero overnight, through a lightning strike, spider bite, being hit by a solar flare, etc? Or are Heroes created by small steps of constant improvement, or through the pursuit of nobility (remember "the quality of elevation of mind and exaltation of character or ideals or conduct").

Maybe heroes are those who are working on themselves, improving their mind, body and spirit, being open to moments for greatness, building character and ideals that will prepare them for the next opportunity to be Heroic!

I guess this would make me a full fledged Hero! When asked if there was a hero in the group, I didn't raise my hand. On the inside, I was shouting "ME, ME", but on the outside I smiled and nodded. Does this make me a "Hero in Disguise?"

SIMPLE IS NOT EASY

So, how does a Hero know that he is going in the right direction? Maybe he needs a "Hero's Guidance System". I know lately with all my unanswered questions and feelings about Work, Career, Money, Love/NotLove, Home, Health, Goals, Plans, Church, Music, etc, - I have been feeling like the rollercoaster is spinning. As I said earlier, one of the clear messages I have been getting to my panic filled queries has been "What are you rushing for?" On Saturday morning, while in a sleep-deprived daze, I listened again to Scot Nineman's album "Slight Change of Plans" (one of my Top 10 albums ever) . Here are some of the lyrics that hit me again, in a different way than the last time I hear them:

"Fret not -- don't worry now, I've learned
That sometimes everything is fine
So rest now -- go ahead and sleep, dear
We have lots and lots of time

There's only ever been a few things that I want and
For the first time, they're the same things that I've got
We're coming right along in our own time
We don't have to beat the clock

Rest now -- in a hundred little ways
You show me everything is fine
I know it's hard to find the words
But they will come to you in time

There's only ever been a few things that I want and
For the first time, they're the same things that I've got
You're not going anywhere and I won't
Back away from something that I want"

Do you want to hear the whole song? Great news! Scot has it for download at his site, so go here and look for the song "Two Thirty". It is wonderful, don't you think. Keep listening - try "Morning" and "Something to Lose".


On Saturday evening, I had a chance to listen to David Stark, the author of the LifeKeys series of books and events, speak about "A Hero's Guidance System" I will try to explain the concept here by showing it in a diagram:



God's Will is a combination of Scripture + Your Special Design + Spirit + Circumstances. A balance of these four pieces are the key to your guidance system and decisions that are tough may benefit from contemplating these.

This tool may help while being open to those "moments" that are presented to us which allow us to use our heroic powers..



One final thought for this week- on Sunday, I spoke to a good friend Jim A., who told me why people such as me probably have a rough time making first dates. It was a good prep for understanding how I should approach further interactions:

• initially I am quiet, conserved, hard to talk to, maybe "guarded" is the right word.
• it takes about 3 days of being together / working together to get through "the outer shell"
• once the barrier is down, I am the best friend you could ask for
• he remembers that when the barriers were down, that I made him laugh so hard, hardest ever and he will never be able to reproduce the painful feeling of laughing too much. After this, he will never doubt my ability to connect with people in the most genuine, heart felt ways.

I started taking some steps with the dating project, (or "Finding Meaningful Companionship") as the project's official name has become. I signed up for some online dating services, live singles events, and a local event where singles mingle for only a few minutes - like quick dates. I have also asked some people out. I have found this whole process to be an interesting dive into selling myself as a good person, and I am finding out more about me than I thought I would. I will explain more in another post, but the online sites specifically are forcing me to answer questions about myself and my likes and dislikes. It is insightful, and I will be able to reveal more about these revelations in the next weeks.


Next week, however, I PROMISE to get off of this now boring subject of my solo status, and give an update on the Health and Fitness programs, and maybe just a reminder for me of what my goal is with my body. I need to go over this again, I feel, so I will focus on my weight loss, eating, new fitness program, and how I am doing on my running 5K preparation. I will do an updated stats next week as well, as I need to get weighed and measured, etc. There is a lot to do.

Then in a couple weeks, I am going to once again discuss my new job, why I am a writer, and how being a writer is a lot like losing weight and staying fit. That should be a good topic, so stay tuned.



more later,

Chazz

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