| Category: | Inspirational |
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Think of your favorite and most famous professional sports figure. I bet the last time he played, with all his athletic ability, his performance was impressive. I'm sure he gets lots of publicity, and makes lots of money, too. What a star star! And for many who root for his team, he's probably quite a hero.
Well, at the risk of offending some of you, I don't think that's such a big deal. A while ago, on a special outing, I met another kind of hero. He was a very small, 12-year-old Scout who was very homesick. Some of you might simply think of him as a little wimp who can't stand to leave his mommy. But, actually, that's pretty insensitive thing to think about a kid whose feelings are tearing him up to the point of crying in front of his friends, who probably hates himself for being weak and feeling homesick.
To make things worse we were at the base camp for a canoe trip on a rain-swollen river, and more than one boy and adult were having second thoughts. The homesick Scout came to me as we were loading the canoes and said, "I don't think I want to do this. I think I want to go home."
When he had made similar comments the night before, the other Scouts had joked and tried to distract him. But, there comes a time when a boy has to either go forward or back. We walked away from the others and I put my hand on his shoulder. I said, "In five minutes, we'll be leaving. You can be in the canoe with us or you can be in the truck going back." Then I walked away and left him to his thoughts.
He came with us on the trip. A couple of his buddies gave him a friendly punch on his shoulder, but nobody cheered. Now, those big-time professional athletes, I guess they're okay. And though this young Scout's accomplishment wasn't printed in the papers or discussed on talk shows, to me, he's a special kind of hero. The quiet kind.
Each of us as individuals face our own kind of unique challenges with obstacles that are difficult to overcome. Facing our individual challenges might not seem like a big thing to others, but doing so bravely, in its own right, is really a valuable and worthwhile accomplishment.