Once or twice a month I will use this blog to point out my heroes; people who have made a great positive difference in my life. It helps to remember these people, no matter how far back their help came to me. This is because these are people who are the reason I made it to where I am. These heroes were able to make a difference to me and are the reason why I made it through certain challenges I faced at the time. It is important to remember that we are all connected and the seemingly small favor or little bit of help one person gives another can make a huge difference later on. It’s the butterfly effect. A small change or event in a moment (a pat on the back, a positive, encouraging word, even a smile) can have a huge effect years down the line.

Heroes can also be people who I look up to for some quality I admire, even if I never met them. I feel that it is important to have people we look up to, people who we can strive to be like in certain ways. It not only keeps us grounded, but give us something to shoot for that is tangible. A name and face can be placed on our goal. A hero who we do not know personally, can even make a difference in how we envision ourselves and our future.

Finally, we all have the capacity to be a hero to someone. Calling out our heroes can give us a chance to reflect on how we can be a hero, how we can change one person’s life or a community , industry or even the world.

I will ask readers to submit comments pointing out a hero in their lives.