“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.”
– Joseph Campbell
The world we live in is a scary place, especially when we’re young.
So we come into this world as sponges, soaking up new bits of knowledge as they come.
However, many people go about their lives only taking in information that other people provide them, failing to independently think for themselves.
When one fails to think for themselves, they let society determine the impact they will make on the world.
Hopefully, you become more aware of this trap, and I encourage you to reflect on what you want your future to look like as you read this article.
Thanks to mirror neurons, science proves that it’s in our nature to imitate other people we want to be like, and this tendency results in the concept of role models.
Whether it be our parents, friends, celebrities, or even fictional characters, other people have a large influence on our outlooks on life.
At least for me, when I was young, I enjoyed following the stories of superheroes, like Batman and Spiderman, in Marvel movies.
When analyzing most action movies, there is always a main character who embarks on a mission, goes through adversity, grows from the hardship, and then completes the mission with honor.
The sequence of these events is captivating because life consists of a lot of suffering, so watching somebody else go through their suffering with courage and resilience encourages us to do the same.
At the end of these movies, the main character is a hero in our eyes because of the noble qualities they demonstrated throughout the film.
Although there’s a distinction between the reality of a movie and the reality we live in, one can still learn important lessons from the hero’s journey.
To highlight a specific hero, the story of Eren Yeager in Attack on Titan has given me the fire to be a hero in my own life, and I believe it will for you as well.
When I was introduced to this series, I was skeptical at first because I never really saw the appeal of anime. However, after watching the first season, my initial views were completely transformed.
To provide some context, the story is about a pretechnological world where humanity is forced to live inside three giant walls.
Outside of these walls are man-eating humanoids, or titans, that are incredibly large in size (I know you’re probably as skeptical as I was but hear me out).
On a certain day, this gigantic titan unexpectedly breaks the first wall, resulting in a near extinction of the human race because nobody was prepared for this to happen.
On this day, after being unable to help his trapped mother, Eren had to watch her get eaten by a Titan at a very young age.
As one would expect, this event permanently scarred Eren. So much so that he made a declaration to kill every single Titan, and he wouldn’t stop until this mission was finished.
This new passion led to him joining the part of the military that went outside of the walls to fight Titans, even though this was basically suicide given the high death rate within this branch.
As I was observing Eren throughout the series, it was evident that he had more ambition than any of his comrades, and the source of this fire was the suffering he went through as a child.
In almost every major trial he faced, there was a flashback to the image of his mother getting eaten, instilling rage that allowed him to ultimately conquer the enemy.
Although what happened to Eren was truly terrible, I believe it was necessary for him to evolve into a true warrior.
In order to avenge his mother’s death, Eren dedicated his life to a purpose that was larger than himself.
If Eren’s mother never got eaten by a titan, then who knows how Eren would’ve turned out? Would he have the same level of determination to save humanity?
Probably not.
He did everything with devotion, and seeing it firsthand compelled me to find that same energy in my own life.
There were many times that I felt pain, maybe not to the same extent as Eren’s pain, but suffering has always been a constant in my life…And it will continue to be one.
I’m confident that you have also experienced pain in your life, and the same can be said for everybody else.
Like Eren, we can all use our suffering as fuel to live with purpose.
Another example is my grandfather. My grandfather is a hero in my eyes, as he was a navigator for the B-52 bomber during the Vietnam War.
Like all military veterans, he dedicated his life to defend the freedom of citizens in this country. Unfortunately, he passed away before I was born, but I think he’s a great example of somebody who lived with purpose.
Maybe you aren’t meant to join the military, and obviously, titans aren’t real.
But what is something larger than yourself that aligns with your life’s story?
Even as I preach this, I’m still trying to figure out what this higher calling is for me, as this is no easy task.
There were times in my life when I lived only for myself, and there were times when I was dedicated to something larger than myself, and my life was meaningful only for the latter.
Like Eren and my grandfather, I want all of us to be heroes, as I believe that there’s a negative correlation between the number of heroes and the amount of suffering in this world.
Although life in this series was truly miserable, at least there was something for people to fight for…
In this era, many of us are blessed to live in a country with economic prosperity, but with prosperity comes comfort and contentment.
Since we’re all comfortable, what’s the point of fighting for something? Why not just optimize for self-indulgence?
…And this is the problem with our society, so with that being said, I encourage you to reflect on this question:
How can you be a hero in your own life?
This article is dedicated to my grandfather.
Happy Memorial Day.
JL