I feel like the media and pop culture, regardless of political persuasion, forget the humanity of our American military and first responders. These are individual souls who are not inherently different from each of us. What sets them apart is their choices and their actions on those choices and how actively they live out ideals that are precious to them. Ideals that include risking their lives to benefit the quality of life for others.
These individuals are not a political entity. They are not some abstract thought or movement. They are individual human beings who come from the same disadvantages and challenges the rest of us do. They are intelligent and strong people who would be an asset to any career or group of people who was blessed enough to be in their company. But these individuals chose a life of service.
When a soldier or a first responder is injured or passes away in the line of duty, it is far more than one life that is lost. Loved ones have a place in their heart and in their daily lives that will never be full again.
Most of us are relatively content to work hard at surviving our grind and then zone out with some entertainment when we get home. That is not terrible. There is honor in our work and it is good to rest from it. These individuals could have done that too. But these heroes did what was incredibly and repeatedly difficult for them. They pushed their minds, their bodies, their hearts, their faith, their ideals, and the entirety of their personhood to places they could never expect, places they had never known before their training. No one is ever “ready” to do what our U.S. military and first responders do. But they change themselves and grow however they need to grow as a person to adapt to some of the most demanding challenges in this life. And we benefit from it with every breath we take in America.
We get to wake up and not answer to another country or to the blatant atrocities that our soldiers and first responders have to continually face and cope with. We read about horrible news headlines, but they have to live through case after case of bloodshed and injustice and the images in their mind of someone’s horrible last moments that their service requires them to see and to examine and to respond to.
We have so many happy thoughts in our daily life because of how much our U.S. military and first responders have sacrificed for us and continue to give to us. It is great to specifically honor our heroes on our national holidays, but every moment is so full of their presence and their gifts and their sacrifices to each of us. It is good to honor these individuals and their families and their support network and the enormity of their gifts to our every moment of existence. Remember these heroes and be a hero in your own way in whatever type of strength you may be equipped to be a hero – to one person even if it is just to yourself. You’ve got this!
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This Post is republished on Medium.
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Photo credit: iStock
