We Don't Need Another Hero

(OK, first an aside. I read an article in the Harvard Business Review titled the same as this post by Joseph Badaracco, though I only have a few notes from it in my notebook. So I would say this post is inspired by that article but probably doesn't have much to do with it.)

We live in an overly dramatized world. Blame it on the media, blame it on ourselves, but gosh darn-it this over dramatization of life has done a lot to do precisely the opposite... create apathy.

Think about it... I would have to say that we have become a country of whiners. Since when did "running out of non-fat, non-dairy, non-sugar creamer at Starbucks" become an earth shattering crisis? I've seen people flip out over such trifles. I would sum this trend up as "If there aren't explosions going off, blaring sirens, or gratuitous nudity... we're not going to pay attention." And as such people have used exaggeration and hyperbole and every sort of explosions, sirens, and nudity to get others to pay attention to them. (Marketers seem to be the best at this).

We've become desensitized to the point that of becoming passionless. We seem to be saving up our efforts and energy for some sort of Grand Mission, like "solving poverty", "curing AIDS", or "becoming a millionaire"... But we don't bother to get our asses off of the couch and exercise, or turn off the TV and read a book, or even take the 1 hour out of our lives every year to get out and VOTE.

I agree with the Joe Badaracco, that we "don't need another hero". Instead we need the everyday people who get up in the morning and give it their all despite all of the obstacles, whatever the season. We need people who will work within the system that we are in and bend the rules in order to get things done, but don't break them outright unless we are truly ready to change them (not just when it's convenient). We need people who will take up a mission and stick with it until it has been completed.

So have a think about it. Sure, the firebrands screaming out "Revolution NOW" may be popular, but when times get tough they will fizzle out quickly. As Thomas Paine famously said, "These are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it Now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict the more glorious the triumph."

And as always comments are welcomed and appreciated.
-Jason