Heroes

The main job of an industrial engineer is to look at the way a company is doing a particular job and change it so that waste is reduced and the income of the company rises. One mistake that many new industrial engineers make is going into a company, and instead of focusing on one area of interest, they try to fix the entire organization. They try to be the hero.

But is there anything wrong with being the hero? We all love heroes, don’t we?Since the days of our childhood, we’ve been enthralled with Spiderman’s antics and Superman’s strength. We all grew up with the idea that, one day, we could model ourselves after our favorite hero and save the world from evil. And as we grew up, we began to move away from the superheroes of our youth and embrace real-life heroes, be it some close to us, like a parent or a teacher or a well-know freedom fighter like Nelson Mandela or Martin Luther King Jr. We believe that if we grow up to be the best that we can be, we can do all the wonderful and amazing things that our minds can imagine. And many of us do continue to model ourselves after these people, and we go on to lead wonderful lives because of their example. So what is wrong with being a hero?

The fatal flaw is the part we do not see. The pain the hero endures. The constant threat that he’s always under, knowing that at any time, and at any moment he could be killed or otherwise destroyed for what he fights for or what he believes. We all want to be Superman on a pedestal, flying high above Metropolis, but we don’t want to the kryptonite dagger in the stomach that he had to go through to get there. We all want to be Nelson Mandela, renowned for ending the apartheid regime. But we don’t want to spend 27 years in prison not knowing whether or not everything we fought for was in vain. We all want to sit in the king’s seat, but we don’t want the sword that hangs over it.

True heroes don’t want to be heroes. They fight blindly for what they believe in, ignoring the poison of despair that surrounds them. True heroes don’t want to save the world. They don’t want to be recognized. They just want to see what they strive for blossom. And sometimes, in so doing, they achieve a goal that does indeed save the world, and are given the so –called ‘hero worship’. But even so, very few heroes are ever noticed. There are heroes who lie in unmarked graves. There are heroes who die everyday in wars all around the world defending people who don’t even know they exist. There are heroes that wake up every morning with a nagging wife, rebellious child and a sizable mortgage, that put on uniforms and go out to protect us. Heroes don’t die knowing that they’ll get a front page headline with a monument in the city square. Heroes die only knowing that they died fighting for what they believed in and that they can fight no more. And even in that moment, they aren’t afraid. True heroes are never afraid to die.

So before you don your red cape and pull your underwear up over your pants, think of this: heroes should be willing to die for what they stand for, be it a physical death or any other kind. If you don’t think that you can do that, then stop. There is no shame in that. If we were all heroes, then there would be no one left to save. There are many other ways that you could help and be an example to those around you, but try not to get caught up in the heroics. Just live for what you believe in, and everything else would follow.

You can’t be the messiah without being crucified.