The Hero Within

In light of recent events in the Persian Gulf and Japan, I want to mention once again how important it is to make a habit of being courageous. 

(I’m saying this as much for myself as I am for anyone else.)

Who, in other words, doesn’t long to speak out against injustice? And if, heaven forbid, a flood rises around our house or a building crashes at our feet, who wouldn’t prefer to be the one who reaches out and lends a hand rather than the one who ignores others’ pleas and saves only herself?

But just as our "bold muscles" need to be exercised in order to attain our dreams, so too do we have to continually practice doing the right thing when the stakes are small if we are to have any chance of doing it when lives are on the line.

Which reminds me of one of my favorite quotes:

If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?   ~Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Photo Credit:   Reuters/Aly Song