True Heroes

Who are the people that have inspired me to live; to live life as fully and as compassionate as possible? I can say that my true heroes are those who are close to me; simple folk who have learned to savor and expel gentle wisdoms in their life. I have no real icons that I worship and strive to be like, just those people whom I have witnessed pouring out love on a daily basis.

One of these people is my husband. Steve is my hero. He has not only changed and shaped me for the better over many years, he continues to do so and love me through all of my imperfections. Steve is a man who has seen hardship. He was poor as a child and has also been a victim of abuses. He was hungry and alone as a little one. For all of my time spent with young children, the openness I feel towards their small yet hard questions and struggles that they go through in the beginning years of their lives, I can only imagine what his childhood must have been like. But Steve grew into a loving and compassionate man. He saddled his hardship, one of them being severe physical pain from a debilitating accident in his late teens, and transformed this pain into wisdom, light and eventually guidance for myself and many others. He has shown me what it is like to live life full of Faith. He has exhumed as well as spoken about many of the mysteries and idioms of life, helping me become wise as well as deal with my debilitating struggle with mental illness. He has shown me what it is like to be patient and to move slowly through one’s karma. He has exhibited true compassionate power and has allowed me to be and become myself truly; a process that has not always been a pretty site. His deeper connection to the divine, to God, has allowed him to be a witness to the chaos that surrounds him, and has thus settled the chaos into a small soothing pool of calmness. I am so grateful for his gentle power of goodness, and I have the utmost appreciation for his path, compassion for his hardship, and gratefulness to all that he has overcome.

Not all of us humans can attest to such grandeur… simple humble grandeur. It is true and sad that often those who have been abused and neglected have ended up continuing the pattern, adding another link to this chain of bondage in their families, as they dish out neglect and darkness to those who come after or before them. How did Steve avoid this?… this is a lesson we all can learn, no matter the size of our hardship. I feel it comes from a place of true compassion, humbleness, lack of ego, as well as an identity in God. No one can take away our relationship with God. Having Faith in God requires a total surrender of our lives. It is true though, that we gain true power, compassionate power, when we nurture such a relationship. We know that everything will be okay, that it is not our responsibility to dish out justice, and that no one can take away what we value most… an identity in Christ.