Overcoming Cynicism and Discovering Your Heroism

We continue our Desiderata series with a guest post for Carlon Haas of Possess Less Exist More.

But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

It’s a typical Friday evening at 7:15 p.m. in Tokyo, Japan. A mob of people are waiting at the subway station where a new train comes every 3 minutes. Suddenly a drunken man topples onto the tracks. Two men, Lee Soo-hyun, a 26 year old student from South Korea and Shiro Sekine, a 47 year-old Japanese photographer jump onto the tracks to help.

But there’s no time. All 3 men are killed by the oncoming train.

None of the men had met each other before that day.

Years later, the same subway line in Tokyo. It’s early morning. A woman falls onto those very same tracks right in front of 20 on-lookers. But a South Korean student, Sin Hyon-gwi, remembering the incident years earlier jumps onto the tracks and brings the woman to safety in time.

When asked about what he had done, Sin said, “I think Lee Soo-hyun’s spirit told me to rescue her and protected me.”

The woman had only minor cuts and bruises.

Neither Sin nor the woman knew each other before that day.

Heroes exist everywhere. And they’re not the ones you see on popular TV shows. They’re regular, ordinary people. People like you and me. No super powers. No one quality that predicts heroic behavior. Heroes are born from their actions.

But how often do we look on these kinds of stories as abnormal? How often do we discount stories of heroism as “unusual”?

To quote one of my favorite movies Jerry McGuire, “we live in a cynical world”. And who can blame any of us for being cynical. Turn on the TV. Read a newspaper. You have every reason to be cynical. You have every reason not to trust others.

Or do you?

I believe that the key to personal growth is to have a realistic view of the world. And the truth is that the world is not out to get you as much as some would have you believe. Yes, most people will not go out of their way to do something for you. But sometimes they do. As the story I related to you shows, two people gave their lives to save a drunken man they had never met. Those people are out there.

Many people do strive for high ideals. They strive to be good. And that requires giving people a chance to be good.

Our inner cynic tells us not to trust others. What exactly do you gain in life by not trusting others? How many times can you honestly say you were taken advantage of completely and totally, getting nothing in return?

It happens to all of us. We get ripped off. We get swindled. We get our hearts broken.

But what about the times we put our faith in people and they came through? How about all the times we looked to another person for support and they were there? How often do we forget that? How often have we let cynicism blind us to that truth?

As I have written before, I have gotten most out of my life by simply asking other people for help. And 9 times out of 10, they come through.

I have found this phenomenon exists in both my personal and professional life.

Do not let cynicism blind you to the virtue that is out there. I started this post with stories of heroism for one reason. It was to illustrate that heroism truly does exist all over world. Most of the stories you’ve never head. But they are there. Heroes are within us all waiting for the chance to come out.

Today, go out there and look at the people next to you. Look left and then look right. Any one of those people is capable of heroism.

Then look into a mirror. You are too. You are just by striving to be one. Sometimes that’s all it takes.

If you enjoyed today’s post, please leave a comment. Also visit the author Carlon Haas of Possess Less Exist More.