But who will save my world?

A friend asked me recently, what was my perception of how the world was going to be? In the future. You know, with all the interesting things that are going on, and our triggers and our beliefs and our emotional stability being poked and prodded right out in the open. With the two or four or fourteen sides that seem to be springing up. With the feeling like slogging through mud at every turn, and feeling like nothing is going to get our light out from under the bushel. (No!)

And I thought about it - I really paused and looked out the window, and reached, and...
...I believe it's going to be amazing.

I believe we're going to be amazing.

And yes, some days it's either believe that or hide under the covers until the world explodes, but I it's going to become pretty rank under those covers while I'm waiting, and besides...

...I think the reason things are so head-achy at the moment is not because the world is bleak and grey, but because it is so bright.

We are all popping out of our shells and emerging from our closets and shedding the constrictions and the illusions and the isolation. We are posting our blogs and teaching our truths and speaking out and standing up and breathing and being. We are starting our businesses and supporting our causes and connecting with our peoples. We are all shining our light. and that blessed bushel has been burned to a crisp.

And in a world that is used to political correctness and the bland mediocrity of fitting in, this sudden light can be painful and hard to adjust to.

And yeah, my truths are from a different book than your truths. And their truths may not even be in the same library as our truths. But we all have them.

And we're all testing them.

And we're all trying, to the best of our ability.

We are the Big Bang. We are the Word. We are the Alpha and the Omega. It is through our actions that our world is constantly being created.

And I believe that we, being the amazing, stubborn, adaptable humans that we are (who we are?) - I believe that we will create - we ARE creating - something marvelous out of all this chaos. We are saving the world.

Saving the world is not just the job of a few tragic, martyred heroes with amazing and unique abilities, poignant back stories and witty one-liners. We all have amazing and unique abilities, back stories, and one-liners. (Wit is, after all, an opinion.)
Saving the world is not just the job of the religious leaders, or the business leaders, or the philosophers, or the special ops. We all lead and we all follow. We all get up every day and do what we can do. We all brave the world with our own brand of truth and work ethic and training.
And saving the world is not just up to the artists and the entertainers and the sports super stars. We each are the center of our universe, and we are right here - not on a screen or a stage - but right here, connecting with the earth right now.

Each one of us has the power to act in that decisive moment, to choose the right door, to beat the trap or stop the count down or clip the wire or slide into home just under the glove. Every one of us has the force within us. Every one of us has the special knowledge it takes to win the game. We are the drilling team, the underdogs, the beautiful minds, the companions, the person in the right place at the wrong time. We're the yellow shirts, the cavalry, the prince, the godmother, the beacon in the dark.

And these world saving moments, these choices, these heroic actions are things we do every day! The mechanic who checks everything religiously. The person cooking for his family. The mother spending a moment with her child. The doctor who presents the news with calm. The friend who makes a joke at a tense moment. How many catastrophes have been prevented because we each are being ourselves and doing our stuff, every single day?

And while we may want to impact the world, have our fifteen minutes of fame, do something that impresses the WORLD, the real question is, which world is it that matters? The unreality one that lives on the other side of the screen? Or the one I have to live in every day?

I write for myself. I live for myself. I work for myself. I enjoy myself. I connect with others to feed myself. I made my world a red button free zone. And I save it, every single day.

And so do you.

So here's to the real heroes. Who sweep the floors, and pick up the trash, and serve the customers, and walk through life, day to day, doing their best. Here's to the leaders and the followers, to the big and the little fish, to the janitor and the CEO. Here's to those who help themselves, and so doing help others. Here's to all of us who eventually manage to get out bed. Here's to the smiles and the helping hands, and the people who mind their own business, and thousands little acts and decisions we each make every single day.

Here's to the ones who are saving our world.

Here's to us.

The hero in me honors the hero in you

As a society, we honor and revere people who do extra-ordinary things. Life saving, death defying, super human things. We put these people, these skilled and amazing beings, up on pedestals and we sometimes allow ourselves to feel small because we are not stronger than a speeding bullet or richer than Neptune.

But the thing is, these heroes, these amazing beings, aren't any more awesome than you or me. They are simply being themselves to the best of their ability. They are really good at what they've chosen to do - yes, totally. And they work very hard at what they do. But still, the things we consider heroic or awesome are merely byproducts of them being themselves 100%.

I am not saying this to denigrate the accomplishments of our heroes, corporeal and fictional. I am saying this to expand our awareness of ourselves.

We are all heroes.

Every day, we get out of bed. Every day we live. Every day, we go about our business. And we smile at our friends, and we help strangers, and we toil and we think and we talk and we connect or we don't as we feel able. Every day we spend time and thought and effort. Every day, we each are ourselves to the best of our ability.

Every day, we are heroes. Not "Ordinary heroes". Not "super heroes". Just heroes. Because sweeping the sidewalk with care is just as important as pulling puppies from burning buildings. And helping a customer find a book is as life-altering as building a school in a war torn country.

Because when we are ourselves, and we do the best we can, we become shiny. We become confident. We walk with knowledge of power. And we inspire that powerful walk in others. We awaken the confidence. We spark the shiny. We validate the hero in each other.

Every day, we change the lives of every one we connect with. Every day! We smile where there wasn't a smile before, or we cry where there were no tears.

Every day, we move and act and choose and believe or not, and we change the world.

Every day we are heroes.

Every day, you are a hero. Just by being you. And the more you you are, the more you do what you do and be what you be, the more heroic you become.

And so do I.

The hero in me honors the hero in you. Thank you, for choosing to save the world today!

-Lila