It’s Be Your Own Hero Week! This week, we’re having a Hometown Heroes camp on January 15th. We’re celebrating our local fire fighting, EMS and police heroes that keep us all safe. We encourage YOU to be your own hero this week.
Who is your hero? It could be someone real, fictional, dead or alive. What qualities do you admire in this person?

Does your hero have unwavering integrity? If so, strive to improve your integrity.

• Tell the truth
• Do what you’ll say you’ll do
• Stand up for what YOU believe in

Courageous

Is your hero courageous?  Chances are good your hero had the courage to do what needed or needs to be done.  Maybe they have courage in the small things, not just the big things.  They may not have used their courage to lead an army against the forces of evil.  But, did they have the courage to do the right thing in a peer pressure situation?  Maybe they had the courage to do the right thing for a friend on the playground when everyone else was doing the wrong thing.  Maybe they had the courage to not cheat on a test at school when other were.

Maybe you saw someone have the courage to do something that they were scared to do.  Maybe they decided to take swimming lessons when they were afraid of water.  Maybe they spoke to a new person at school and made a new friend.

Have courage in the little things.  That way, when the big challenges appear, you’re ready.

Calm in the face of danger

Learn to regulate your emotions.  Don’t overreact or panic.  Take a step back, think before you act. Breathe. In the case of physical danger, don’t panic.  Use your training and stay safe. Panic clouds your judgement and in many cases prevents you from doing what you should do.

• Did the Rebels in Star Wars panic against Darth Vader?  No!
• Did the Guardians of the Galaxy panic when faced with overwhelming evil?  No!  They stood up, and calmly joined together.
• Did Franklin Roosevelt panic when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor? No!  On the day of the attacks, Eleanor, who knew Roosevelt best later recalled her husband’s demeanor on that day as “deadly calm”.
   

Be the voice of calm in a crisis.  Other will rally around you.  Be the calm hero