Every person can name a hero from different people who have made a positive impact in their life either directly or indirectly. A hero can be someone’s parent, brother or sister or any person in the community who has made a remarkable change or influence on the society that has brought about a positive impact on the living conditions of the society. This can either be a change brought about by a person in the society by being a charismatic leader with achievable strategic goals and objectives that benefit the society or may have touched the lives of a particular group of people in a positive and memorable way. Being a hero by definition, it entails a person who possesses extraordinary characteristics and traits that are aimed at helping other people in the society. A hero is someone who will effortlessly fight for the rights of other people in the community, actively participate in long lasting decision making process in the society and expect no payments or appraisals from the people who benefits from his/her charismatic acts of good will.
The concept of one being a hero does not mean having a prominent role in the society such as that of a well-known leader in the country or a leading manager in a big company. A hero can be an ordinary person, a woman or a man in the society who does not have any prominent leadership role in the society but in some way has done something that has transformed the life of people in the community. A hero sacrifices his or her life for the service of others. For instance, many people have named Mother Teresa as a hero just as a result of her relentless service to the poor among other charity activities that she performed in saving the life of the community where she served with her entire charisma and whole heartedly. A hero can be a parent who works tirelessly to take his child to college to better their future or an old man in the community who has dedicated his life into educating the youth on good virtues and morals in the society. It doesn’t have to be a prominent leader or person who always appears on the front page of national magazines and newspapers for everyone to view them.
There is however those people in our society who are influential in their own ways and people have termed them as heroes. Such people may fight for the groups they are leading such as fraternity and sorority groups or influence them in a negative way and to the group members; they can term such leaders as their heroes. However, in societal setting, a hero is someone who brings a positive change to his or her people or does a noble act that remains to have an impact to the people either by encouraging them follow in their hero’s footsteps. Naming someone a hero is always through the instincts of a person who feel proud of the act his/her hero has performed which has touched their life.
How people can change the society
Changing the society means having thoughts that intends to chance not only those things that affect us individually but looking for solutions to problems that affect the society as a whole that is thinking for others and not on self achievements. People who intend to change the society must first be aware that a change in the society cannot be achieved in one day and it may take a long time to change the current societal situation. One should realize that change is inevitable and requires a complex process to achieve the change people want. Therefore one is ought to be patient and enduring in case they encounter challenges from those people who do not wish to accept the positive changes.
One of the ways of bringing a lasting constructive change in the community is through adopting a charismatic leadership style. This involves being a visionary, someone who has a positive thinking on the future, share the idea with the people and look for a solution together. Such a leader is able influence people into bringing a change as they have trust and hope in such leader’s ideas.
Also creating a constructive long lasting change in the society requires a convergence thinker. This means a person should be able to think behold what others have in mind, in other words referred to as ‘thinking outside the box’. This also involves thinking first before accepting plans and things that people present to us concerning the community. This way, people will be able to avoid mistakes that are likely to affect the society in a negative way. Avoiding the mistake of copying what other prominent people did in the past and instead trying to come up with new ideas which are likely to be of greater benefit to the society in the long term is essential in creating a better society.
Conclusion
Positive changes are made by people who think about the well-being of the society who in this case can be termed as heroes. A determined person with a vision and goals of bringing change to the society not with an intention of being praised but rather with the intention of changing the lives of people is a hero. However, the perception of people towards a person is the only determinants that can describe a person to be a hero or not depending on the role such a person plays in the society.
References
Barber, L. (2012). Everyday Missions: How Ordinary People Can Change the World. New York: Routledge Press.
Burke, P. (2006). Contemporary Social Psychological Theories. London: Stanford University Press
Turner, J. and Stets, J. (2007). Handbook of the Sociology of Emotions. London: Springer.
