Invisible Heroes

●♥ Invisible Heroes ♥●

“The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself – the invisible battles inside all of us – that's where it's at.”

–Jesse Owens

The world best knows Jesse Owens for the gold medals that he won in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany.  However, his life shows us that he had to overcome many personal trials and troubles well beyond those we saw on the athletic field.  So too it is with each one of us.  Every visible victory that we can actually witness has been preceded by the triumph of countless savage internal battles.

Sure, we see and cheer the winning goals and the home runs but we never see the motivational struggles to practice in the early morning hours.  We keep score of all the touchdowns but we do not count all the decisions to make the effort that keeps improving the best and making it better.  Yet these are the necessary and heroic choices that play out daily and yield the wins that we all applaud.

We do not see the real wars that define our society.  If we could then we would soon realize that we are surrounded by invisible heroes.  We would see the tired and lonely person behind the cheerful smile of our friendly server.  We would know and understand the disappointment and failed dreams of our productive co-worker.  In short, we would see the scars and wounds on people’s hearts and souls and I think we would become far more kind, forgiving and understanding.

I recognize that we all need ideals to encourage and inspire us; the big shiny heroes that media and society regularly hail feed that appetite.  I do not want to take away from those people and their achievements.  What I am hoping to do is twofold.  First, I would like us to open our eyes and our minds to the invisible heroes that circulate around each and every one of us.

We may not see their struggles but we should know that everyone has them and we need to realize that even the most mundane of us can be waging heroic battle and overcoming some very real demons in just to keep going every day.  Earning a living, keeping a loving family together, being a good friend and citizen… these simple things should not be downplayed or undervalued.  We all know and see the terrible costs when individuals lose the invisible wars.

Secondly, I would like us to acknowledge our own invisible struggles and victories.  We need to give ourselves credit for wrestling with our own fears. We may not always outwardly succeed when we choose to oppose our fears, but I assert that we always win somehow when we make that choice.  When we turn away from the darkness and choose life and living, no matter how hard, then that is a victory.  When life slaps us hard and yet we choose to push back our tears and try again tomorrow that is triumphant!  

Yes, we should celebrate when we achieve or make progress towards outward goals.  So too should we rejoice when we overcome the naysayers in our minds and opt to hold true to our hearts dream.  Heroes are made from the inside out and there are far more heroes than we ever acknowledge.  Let’s see ourselves and each other with new eyes today.

Perhaps that person that you smiled at is fellow warrior in heart of a battle and you just provided them some more ammo to continue the good fight.  Acknowledge your own silent conflicts and make note when you make difficult positive choices.  Be compassionate both within and without.  Remember that though not all battles yield gold medals this does not mean that they do not count.  The ground you gain in your heart today make be the seed to the success that shines through tomorrow.  

Cheers!

©2020 Scott D. Wilson

Distant Not Disconnected

●♥● Distant Not Disconnected ●♥●

“Of all diseases I have known, loneliness is the worst. The greatest disease in the West today is not TB or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love.”

–Mother Teresa

By trade, I am an electrical engineer specializing in telecommunications.  The word telecommunication comes from télé- ‘at a distance’ and communication.  I guess this makes me an expert in connecting people across distances.  I use copper, fibre, radio and satellite to bring people together across the globe.  The electron and the photon are my messengers between those whom I unite through voice and video.  

I have come to realize that I do far more than bring people together with technology.  I also have a unique talent for writing which bonds people through shared experiences and insightful ideas.  As an engineer and problem solver I have for many year exercised innovation and creativity to help others to achieve their goals.  I gather together wisdom and knowledge from diverse sources and then skillfully implement them to aid people to connect and help each other in achieving their goals.

With technology, I unite folks face to face, visually and verbally linking them, allowing them to collaborate. With words I seek to connect hearts and minds through stories, images and ideas. None of these connections are limited by distance.  We call internet meetings virtual, as if they are somehow less real than physical ones.  Are the words of a newspaper or magazine more real or important than those of blog or website?  Is it less real to hear the words “I love you!” whispered on the phone than directly into your ear? 

I am not downplaying actual physical connections. A gentle touch has no equivalent in cyberspace right now.  That does not negate the reality that we can be distant but still connected. There is a difference between being alone and being lonely.  Solitude can be a joy when one understands that we remain linked not matter where we are physically. I do not cease to be a son when my mother is not present. I am still a neighbour even when I cannot see those who live nearby.  

Meanwhile, it is possible for someone to be lonely even amidst a crowd of thousands.  Isolation is not necessary to foster alienation. Loneliness is simply the personal disconnection from all the life around us.  Loneliness screams that no one and nothing cares about or notices us. It insists that we don’t matter to anybody or anything. It works to convince us that we have no meaningful relationships, connections to existence. 

Mother Teresa was right, loneliness is a terrible disease.  Despite our many opportunities to connect so many of us feel unwanted, unloved and uncared for.  This is the disgrace of modern times.  We fight so hard against viruses and disease and yet we allow ourselves to believe that we are utterly alone.  It is tragic that anyone feels unnecessary. We are all significant in fabric of humanity. I cannot imagine what brushstroke would not be needed in the masterpiece of Leonardo’s Mona Lisa nor what tree would be superfluous in the grandeur of a forest.  Their loss would diminish the whole. 

Each of us belongs; only fear and bitterness allow us to conceive otherwise. Love binds us, and love is always there. Love abides in the kindness of a stranger. Love shines is the smile of friend.  Love beckons in the words of favourite story or a old note sent to us long ago. Love is broadcast in the morning notes of a little songbird. If we do not let fear blind and deafen us to the love that surrounds and connects us then we can plainly know that we need not be lonely for we are a part of the network of life, needed and needing others.  

There are no islands in the sea of humanity. We are born linked to those who love and raise us and to all the lives they also touched.  As we grow our own bonds expand, for they can never diminish as our experience intermingles with life.  The love and caring that we are shown cannot be extinguished by time nor space.  People and life itself may seem distant but that does not make us disconnected from them.  I hope what I have shared here help lift some loneliness and enables the understanding that distance in time or space does not disconnect us from love and life. 

Cheers!

©2020 Scott D. Wilson