7 Ways to Find Your Inner Hero.

We watch the news and wish there was something we could do to right wrongs. We see our neighbours struggle with issues in their lives and want to help. Or, we face a monster of a challenge in our own lives, but fear, and insecurity hold us back from taking action. As the song goes, there’s a hero inside of you and me, just waiting to rise up. Yes, there is! And here are seven ways to find that hero and let him or her go to work:

Keep God by Your Side

Keep God by Your Side. By ourselves, we are merely human. But with God, all things are possible – even facing something that terrifies you. Visualize God by your side at all times, and ask Him to give you His wisdom and courage to know how to act and when.

Adopt a Specific Cause

Adopt a Specific Cause. More than money, more than donations of things, good causes need the time and skills of people with a profound desire to help. Yes, there are many problems in the world, even in our own communities. Which one really resonates with you? Moves you? Makes you want to jump up and join in? Concentrate your efforts so that your inner hero will be focused and effective.

Serve Others with Your Strengths

Serve Others with Your Strengths. A friend needs help, a lot of help. Where can you make the most difference? Examine your talents, all that you are, and offer your best, that which is strongest. Your most capable and heartfelt efforts will be the ones most likely to move the most stubborn of mountains.

Ask a Friend

Ask a Friend. Oh, so often, we don’t know ourselves as well as others who see us from the outside. Treasured friends, those who have been with us through thick and thin, can help us see what we cannot – and brush up the shine of our inner courage, our inner hero.

Reach Out with No Reward in Mind

Reach Out with No Reward in Mind. In the movies, the hero often does a good deed, but leaves before he or she can be thanked or identified. Keep this in mind when you reach out to do something good for someone else. Let the act itself speak of the wonder and grace that fills God’s world – and treasure this in your heroic heart.

Cultivate Courage

Cultivate Courage. Like a muscle, courage must be exercised regularly in order to be strong enough to withstand the really big challenges in our lives (think driving on a crowded freeway, for example!). Don’t wait for the “big moment” to make a difference, but rather seek out ways large and small to act and build up your fearlessness act by act.

Be Aware

Be Aware. Many opportunities to act will pass us by if we’re not mindful of our surroundings, the needs of others, and ways to make changes in our own lives. The more we explore our world and keep our eyes and hearts open, the greater our impact and the more we can show others how, even though we tremble, through God we are wonderfully, powerfully, and heroically made!

Beliefnet.com