Part 6: “In Search Of Heroes Book 1″ What is your definition of heroism? by Ralph Zuranski
Jeff Dedrick: Oh, boy, that was kind of a tough one, but I definitely can tell you this. Some of the people that right now kids are looking to nowadays that are so called heroes, just because you can throw a basketball through a hoop.
It seems like people gravitate towards the loudest and the guys that are just downright not nice people. I don’t know why that is. Nowadays the loudest reality stars that have done nothing in life other than be on TV and they are loud and obnoxious, they get the most press. They end up getting more deals out of it.
Everyone should start looking at people in their life that are making a difference especially people who are making a difference in their life like teachers. That is something of value, being able to catch a football, in the scheme of life who cares?
Joe Polish: I guess it would be a big definition. Although to summarize my thoughts right off the top, I would consider a hero someone who’s an encourager. They inspire others. In the face of enormous obstacles they are able to communicate, articulate and lift someone up with their words, their actions and their mission in life.
As nice as it is to have me as an interviewee in the Heroes Program, I don’t consider myself someone who I would be thought of as a hero. If people look at me as a hero, wonderful. I hope I do encourage and inspire others.
I think the real heroes of the world, in a lot of ways, never are discovered in a famous sort of way. They’re doing little things all the time that nobody ever really notices.
For instance, both of my parents are deceased. The people at the hospice center that took care of my father right before he actually died…those are heroes. Those are people that, day in, day out, are assisting in very sad, very horrendous circumstances for some individuals. And they’re there every day, doing what needs to be done to make life easier for people at the end of their lives. Those are real heroes.
The people out there that are making the world a better place, protecting children, those, to me, are heroes.
My mother is an example. She died when I was 4 years old. She was one of the first authors that taught children how to read using the phonetic method. Millions of her books have been sold and they’re still in publication 30+ years after her death. They’re still in circulation.
So she taught millions of children how to read and continues to do so even after she passed away. She left a legacy. To me, my mother was a hero.
A hero is someone who encourages and inspires. I want to be an encourager as much as I can. I want to seek out other people that are encouraging, that just offer hope. That’s what drives me and makes the world a better place.
The successful people are the ones who can think up stuff for the rest of the world to keep busy at.
- Donald Marquis