Real Heroes in my Life

I have been posting an August gratitude challenge on facebook and was thinking a lot about the people in my life who give of themselves, who make a difference in the lives of others, who step up, who show they care. They go out of their way, they make sacrifices to help others, they empower their fellow human beings.

In our era of selfies, self focus, all things self….. that takes some effort.

So many articles, videos and talk shows lecture about focusing on yourself, doing what feels right to you, making your life the best ever; in short living a life centered around self. Life is supposed to be fun, joyful and happy. Oprah talks about it, life coaches, counselors and even your friends tell you that this is how life is meant to be.

We are encouraged to always sound upbeat and empowered, springy and positive. As Americans we already do a lot of that.

I think it is important to know who you are and what you want in life. It is true that you create what you think; therefore think clearly, watch your thoughts and be focused. I also teach that and have written about living a successful life.

However, there is a vast number of people who are lost, confused, lonely, suffering in poverty, maybe with a serious illness or they simply have lost hope.

What if they aren’t in a good space in their lives at this time? Don’t we all have moments that feel like life is waging a war with us. Is that when we are supposed to pretend, be in denial?

What if they are living in poverty? All that matters then is survival. Those lofty goals of positive thinking and esoteric ideas are very low on their priority list.

What do we do when we see a fellow human being suffer? Turn away, because we don’t want to put our efforts there or have our energy dragged down? Or maybe we don’t want to look at the despair of another because it’s a reminder that it could be us and we are desperately working to stay in a good space? It can be scary to look at the dark side of life, to face the inner demons we all battle.

But life is not one dimensional! There can be no light without darkness, no good without the bad, no up without the down.

These are the facts!

But we tend to get on the bandwagon if it sounds good and we forget to think or dig a little deeper.

With that in mind, I am feeling grateful to know some real live heroes.

One of them is Richard Lawson, a young man who gave up his life to travel the globe to help orphans and girls who are sold into the sex trade. You can read about it on his website: www.lovingorphansglobal.org and I wrote about him in my book: “Step On It” https://amzn.to/1lNBScK

Another is Alicia Kozuch Komar at https://www.buenpower.com. She saw a need for light in Peru in remote, poverty stricken villages. Children who walk for miles to attend school, have no day light left to read or do homework. Families cannot finish their work because it is dark. Alicia sacrifices her life and needs to bring solar powered lights to others.

Dave Elsberry rides a bicycle across the country to raise money for MS victims at https://daverides.com. He recently rode from California to Maryland in 7 days. He has a heart the size of Texas.

Pam Lewko Elsberry is by far the most loving, generous, kind, inspiring business associate I have ever worked with at www.lyoness.com. If you want to make it, she’s there to make sure you have the tools.

Your not so average Real Estate investor, Jim Ingersoll, believes in truly helping people who are looking to find a better way by being real and living like a true Christian at https://investingnownetwork.com

There a many more heroes in my life, many who quietly go about helping, inspiring and uplifting others on a daily basis. I know that’s who I want to be!