To Act and Be a Hero
A Psalm of Life
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
 
Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream! —
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
 
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
 
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.
 
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
 
In the world’s broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!
 
Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act--act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o’erhead!
 
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;
 
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
 
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
“It is not the years in your life, but the life in your years that counts,” said Adlai Ewing Stevenson (美國政治家). The point, Stevenson illustrates, is a reminder of how it’s easy to lose sight of living a meaningful life. It’s an interesting phenomenon that we invest the amount of time, energy, and money in living healthier, longer, and happier lives. Nevertheless, we still often feel unsatisfied with our lives that are devoid (沒有的) of meanings. When it comes to living a meaningful life, there are no exact answers all over the world. What makes life meaningful is unique to each and every person. Meanings may come from many different avenues. Unlike happiness, which stems from receiving or doing things for ourselves, meanings of life come from giving or doing something for ourselves and others as well. Perhaps, for some people, meanings of life come from fostering close family relationships. For a few, they are about choosing fulfilling careers that involve helping others through teaching, nursing, counseling, or coaching. Others find meanings by giving back to their communities. If it still isn’t enough to satisfy our quests for a meaningful life, we might try to step outside our comfort zones in exchange for something more fulfilling, uplifting, and meaningful. 
A hero, indeed, is a person who has a meaningful life and does good actions for him and others. Since our ideas of the hero are often framed by the stories we see on the big screen, or read in comic books and novels, it is not uncommon that, in our society, we have military heroes, sports heroes, political and civil rights heroes and business heroes. They are all courageous. In other words, a hero is a person who acts courageously. A hero is not someone with superpowers, superior intellect or physical ability. On the contrary, a hero is someone who has recognized a need, counted the potential cost, and decided to act in spite of what might happen to be hurt. For example, a military hero is someone who risks his life in order to save the lives of his fellow warriors. A political or civil rights leader is someone who stands up for what he/she believes to be right even though he/she may lose his/her position, credibility and connections. Furthermore, a hero at home is a mother or a father that sacrifices herself/himself for the good of the family. They all act heroically and deserve the titles.
It takes both skill and self-confidence to rush into places which others fear to tread. It means that a hero has the courage to act out. While facing the crisis, heroes always have an intrinsic belief that they are capable of handling the challenges and achieving success no matter what the odds are. Thus, a person who rushes into a burning building to save another person is not just extraordinarily brave; he/she also possesses an ability to overcome fear. Those who do leap into action are typically, more likely, to take greater risks in multiple aspects of their lives. They are real heroes. Therefore, to act and be heroes give us meaningful lives.
Besides, persistence is another quality commonly shared by heroes. They are often more patient and will keep working on their goals, even after multiple setbacks. If we want our lives meaningful, we have to be heroes. Heroes learn and share good mindset in their meaningful lives, such as persistence, empathy, heroic imagination, special training and habitual helping. Heroes take action persistently. They are going to stand up and do the right things continuously. They are also more easily able to expand empathy to others who are beyond their social circles or comfort zones. Moreover, those who help others in dangerous situations usually have some training that gives them confidence. Heroes are trained to have heroic behavior as repetitive actions on behalf of others. They are healthy and formed the habits of doing good things to help others.
Too many people wait for something before they are willing to take positive action. We choose to delay the tough decisions and live with more misery or discontent, rather than deciding to act and make our world better. We always make excuses like “waiting for the perfect moment,” “waiting for when the person will be feeling better,” “waiting for the momentum to shift,” “waiting until after Christmas,” “waiting until he leaves,” “waiting until she quits,” “waiting until he gets promoted,” “waiting until the boss gets fired,” or “waiting until I’m retired.” The list can be endless. In fact, the status quo might be so comfortable to many people who would rather choose the ordinary today over a powerful future of new (yet unknown) possibilities. But, it’s the prime time for us to act out and be heroes to live meaningful lives. Otherwise, “life is but an empty dream!” Taking action is crucial. Some people don’t know what they want to do, so they do nothing. Some people know what they want to do, but still do nothing. And some people spend heaps of time and energy going to seminars, reading, and learning about what they want to do, but they never actually take any action on what they learn. If we take no action, it doesn’t matter how much we learn or know, our actual lives are not going to be benefited. Everyone has the ability to take action. It doesn’t take money. It doesn’t take experience. And it doesn’t take anything except for the desire and willingness to go ahead and do something. To act is to do things at once.
As a matter of fact, through repetition, the action that caused us discomfort becomes a habit. Every learning needs to develop. We, then, have the opportunity to do a different action that is beyond our comfort zones. This is how we all continue to develop and grow. Now we can structure our days by blocking out time in our diaries to do specific actions. This is where discipline comes in. The beliefs that we have about our abilities shape our entire lives. Self-efficacy (自我勝任感) is the strength of our belief in our abilities to achieve goals. People with high self-efficacy approach challenging tasks as things they can master. Thus, here is a committed action plan that successful people practice weekly:
1. Identify a clear reason for a desired goal.
2. See this desired outcome as a positive change.
3. Develop a routine of self-discipline, focusing on progressing toward our desired goals.
4. Use time management to prioritize our goals daily.
5. Assess the clarity of our plans, and write down the action plans with completion dates.
6. Reward ourselves weekly for staying on track.
It’s really up to us to let our desired outcomes shine, and infuse our lives with actions. We have to start our plans, and make progress daily in life. Indeed, no race was ever won without a beginning. So, let’s start right now.

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