The OAK ACADEMY Home of the U49 Where are the heroes?

• Ben van Wetten

Louis L'Amour had a fundamental theme for all his heroes: that no matter how often you got knocked down, what counted was that you got up. We see this type of courage with babies going from the crawl to standing up against the furniture and to their first wobbly steps. No matter how often they fall down, they just get back up and carry on until they get it right. Some may be more adventurous than others, but they all have this drive to succeed even if that success is only measured in baby steps.

During sporting events, the outright winners get the prizes, but often it is the person who struggles to finish, the one who is a lap behind with no chance for glory, who stays determined to finish the race for her /himself, is the real hero. The stars are known before the event starts and are expected to win. The heroes learn to fight, to stand up with courage, to finish the race even when the odds against them. 

All too often the high school sports star fails because when entering the real world there are no accolades and the star fades into obscurity. What was easy then becomes a mountain too high and fading into obscurity, an excuse to fade into mediocrity. 

This does not mean that the struggler will stop struggling for the rest of time and remain obscure in life, settling for what they perceive their life to be or are entitled to. Or that the star that was the hero then does not go on to greater heights of fame and fortune. At the end of the day, it all comes down to this one simple question, "when do we decide to give up or  make the decision to stand up and fight for who we want to be"?