Heroes of old

Heroes are mythical creatures that fly out of stories and make a nest in our imaginations. They build themselves up to be greater than life and when the truth is revealed, we feel let down.

Real heroes do exist. Not the superheroes that we see in movies and comic books, but heroes from history and daily life.

My heroes are not conventional. They are not perfect. They often have a bad reputations. Genghis Khan for instance. He did the unbelievable, bringing together tribes and uniting them into one nation. That is incredible! His life was full of battles and trials, yet he held true to his convictions and made a name for himself that is not forgotten, even thousands of years later.

Malcolm X is another example. He's often had the reputation for being racist and violent. But reputations are not always all they are cracked up to be. While his violent reputation may have preceded him, he was never involved with a violent demonstration. But was is more interesting than his reputation is the fact that he was able to grow personally. He was able to leave behind old opinions that had been publicly and LOUDLY proclaimed by himself. He was able to say, "wait, I think I have had it wrong". His ability to learn from life is a lesson to us all.

What is it about these men that I admire?

I admire the their faith. Neither one worshiped in the same style I do. Neither one ever claimed Christianity as their religion of choice, but both men believed that their God was listening to them when they prayed. They believed, even when things went wrong, even when their religious leaders turned out to be hypocrite or frauds, they still believed that there was someone listening to their prayers and answering each one in His time.

I admire their achievements. Both of them changed the world with their leadership. Khan united a nation and brought prosperity to many many people. Malcolm X changed the way African Americans thought about themselves, how they interacted with others, and helped them stand up for themselves.

I admire that they were both able to realise that they were wrong. Malcolm X publicly changed his beliefs. It is a hard thing to admit your wrong, it is even harder to admit to the world, you were wrong. Khan always kept the same goals, he never wavered, but he was able to say, "this plan didn't work, we will try another". That is hard to do when you have thousands of people following you because you say that you can bring them prosperity. Failing never looks like a good option. He was able to use his failures and renegotiate his ground with each battle.

These men are not angels. In fact, both of them have often been vilified by various sources. But they were strong men who were human, with all the strengths, faults, and failures that brings. This gives me the courage I need to change the world. After all, the world doesn't need perfect heroes, it needs humans.