We relish news of our heroes, forgetting that we are extraordinary to someone too. -Helen Hayes

Will tough times pull us together…Or pull us apart?

During difficult times, some say that people will think only of themselves—that it’s every man for himself—but is that really the case?

In the midst of the mortgage meltdown and financial crisis, Nancy Gibbs of Time Magazine wrote that there seems to be another kind of story at large in our land. It’s the story of millions of people who believe that problems shared grow smaller, that courage is contagious, that each of us can make a difference in the lives of our neighbors, and that a crisis is an opportunity to pull together instead of pulling apart:

Someone placed an 18-karat-gold diamond ring in the Salvation Army kettle in Uniontown, Pennsylvania.

Food donations in Paradise, California are up five-fold.

A Santa Clarita, California family took in an 83–year-old woman left homeless by wildfires and helped rebuild her life.

A Sioux Falls, South Dakota hotel manager came up with a plan to open his doors to 200 homeless people at Christmas.

Mississippi, which ranks as the poorest state is also the most generous in charitable giving.

Maybe as time gets worse we get better. Our pain makes us feel other people’s too; our fear lets us practice valor; we are tense, and tender as well. And among the things we can no longer afford are things we never really wanted anyway… -Nancy Gibbs

Those who say there are no heroes left in the world just don’t know where to look. You can see heroes everyday, going in and out of schools, hospitals, homes, and businesses. 

Heroes are everyday people who have chosen to give a portion of their lives to something bugger than themselves. Heroes light a candle in the dark. They just have a way of brightening our world with a word, an example, a gift, a hand, an idea. 

We all need heroes. They inspire us to be better versions of ourselves.

Who are your heroes and how do they inspire you? What more could you be doing to encourage, help, support or inspire those who look up to you?