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Young or old, middle-aged or no, we all have had people in our lives who have influenced us, shaped us, directed us and helped define who we are.

There have been those who have lifted us up. There have been those who have held us down. There have been those who have guided us and there have been those who have pushed us. And then there have been those who have just plain helped us grow.

Likely they are the usual suspects. They are our pastors, our teachers, our counselors or our friends. Our neighbors and our parents, or maybe they are simply a total stranger that we have only known in passing. But whatever their role, great or small, it is likely that all of these people have contributed in some way to who we have become and in some cases, are yet still becoming.

Then there are those who come a long only once in a great while, and yet, they manage to leave an impression so deep and indelible upon our lives, that we dare to call them heroes.

In the perfect, make-believe world of the uninitiated ones, heroes are beyond human and bear the names of Spiderman, Batman or Superman. They scale tall buildings in a single bound. They rescue damsels in distress, and they save cities from an uncertain fate at the hand of an evil villain. They right the wrongs of a corrupt society and leave us with the promise of a happy ever after.

But in the less idyllic world of those of us who have lived beyond the years of child like fantasy and heroic perfection, we have learned that life is not always just. Nor are there promises of a happily ever after. And so, our heroes are not only imperfect and weak, but they are also often deeply flawed as well.

These are the people, who, in spite of their own human foibles and shortcomings, are still able to inspire us. But, unlike the Greek god Atlas, who is able to carry the world upon his shoulders, they often bend and sometimes even fall, but nonetheless are able to show us how to stand up again and square off against the Goliaths in our lives, often times even handing us the sling-shot.

These are also the people who may have seen deep into the darkest places of our heart; yet continue to believe in us. And thereby, they enable us to believe in ourselves, so that we can transcend our weakest moments. And then they offer us the hand that helps us to get up again.

They are the ones who teach us that in weakness, there can still be strength and in imperfection there can still be beauty and they help us to realize that there is a part of us that has been created in the image of God.

Heroes show us ourselves. Through their victories, we learn courage. Through their trials, we learn perseverance and through our mutual experience, we gain hope. Hope that tomorrow will bring another day and another opportunity to give it our best shot. Hope that even though we may fail miserably, we can still try again. And hope that in life, there is a dignity that makes each day worth tackling, even though we know our best efforts may remain mediocre at best.

Heroes are not found in the pages of a comic book, nor are they found in the imagination of those who would have them to be bigger than us all. Heroes are simply ordinary people living ordinary lives and yet they somehow manage to achieve extraordinary things.

Heroes help point the way to the path we all wish to walk. The path of human triumph and victory that is sometimes hard won, but in the process we realize we are capable of more than we had ever imagined.

Learn more about this author, Magnolia Miller.
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