Hero is a Verb

"I just rode up the elevator with five Brittney Spears and a sweaty Harry Potter!"

One of my favorite sitcoms of all-time is the TV show Frasier. If you've never saw this 90's comedy you can catch it on Netflix. The show is about an insecure, pompous psychologist named Frasier who hosts a radio program. He lives in a posh high rise apartment in downtown Seattle with his down-to-earth regular-joe dad Marty. His brother meanwhile is his own pretentious self and a psychologist as well, known as Niles.

In the episode Room Full of Heroes Frasier has a costume theme party for Halloween. Known by his office co-workers as having the dullest of parties, Frasier gets a whole lot of cancellations due to a fictional illness going on around at the office.

Unfortunately Frasier's own family is stuck at his party and they try to make the best of it. Each person was required to wear a costume of their hero, one you most admire and want to emulate.
While Frasier dresses as his hero Sigmund Freud, his dad Marty dresses as Joe DiMaggio, housekeeper Daphne appears as Sir Elton John, Frasier's brother Niles is made up to look like his father, and station manager Roz appears as Wonder Woman.

When Frasier asks Roz why Wonder Woman? Roz simply replies,

"Because Wonder Woman is smart, beautiful, has morals and is independent. That's who I want to be!"

I love Roz's answer because even though she's chosen a fictional superhero character, it's what Wonder Woman stands for that has attracted Roz to want to emulate.

Most boys and young men have athletes as their heroes today. With my love for sports as a child and even today, I'm lucky to say none of my heroes were athletes. Today that would be a good thing!

In the last month I've written a few blog posts about honoring our national anthem and the American flag, unfortunately some of todays athletes did not get the memo or read my blog. It's a very confusing time here in America and not one I am proud of as an avid sports fan, but I do not want to continue to address honoring America. You can read my last few posts about that subject.

Football player Colin Kaepernick has chosen to take a knee and disrespect the American national anthem as he protests what I will just call the injustice of society. Since taking his stance many other pro athletes have begun to follow his lead. One coach put all of this in perspective simply by saying,

"When Kaepernick was a successful quarterback and winning games he appeared to be selfish and
never did anything but promote himself. Why didn't he protest then? What changed? Now that he is an unsuccessful second-string quarterback he decides to protest and be in the limelight. I don't trust his sincerity."

Ironman Robert Downey Jr says, "A hero is a verb not a noun." Which is precisely why many are discouraged by some of these athletes who have chosen to dishonor the anthem and the American flag. If they want to fix what is wrong with injustice in society they need to invest their time, money, and elite status into helping the neighborhoods within their communities. Actions speak louder than words.

Someone once said, "Everyone is necessarily the hero of his own life." 

Who needs a hero when each of us individually can make a difference.

What you do in life will echo through eternity.

Be your own hero.