again, shel sombillo and edwin morales of tv5's reaksyon weekend, hosted by luchi cruz, asked me for sound bites about our national heroes.
i told them that in this day and age, people hardly appreciate the national heroes that are mentioned in school textbooks. there is a great divide between the culture, issues, and experiences of their generation and ours. they are just a blur in our consciousness and in fact, like a very distant memory, we visualize them in our minds not in color, not even in crisp black and white, but in faded grayscale.
many have suggested, and rightly so, that we need modern day heroes-- people whose character and whose lives offer hope and inspiration as we live in the complexity of our times.
i say, better than having modern day heroes who are looked up to, we need to become heroes ourselves. for me, a hero is simply an ordinary person who chooses to create some good change within his area of influence. no, we don't have to be that type of hero who carries the burden of the world on his shoulders. we can become a type of hero that is incognito-- a hero that enjoys doing random acts of kindness in secret; a hero that does what is right even when no one is looking; a hero that strives to always do his best in whatever he does, even if his best is a far cry from the best of others.
when we finally decide to become heroes, then national heroes' day not only becomes a commemoration of the patriotism of the past, it becomes a celebration of the inherent good which resides within all of us.
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...hmmm, well lookee here...
even babies can become heroes:
and sad to say,
some adults can make very good villains...
...eeewwww! get me a barf bag quick!...
