Events; good and bad. Lots to bring in the New Year. The only thing I want to discuss at the moment is Miep Gies. She died this weekend at the ripe age of 100 . If you don't know who she is, you should probably read Anne Frank's diary. Well, you should read her diary for more than just info about this woman. Anyhow,Miep (and I'm not exactly sure how to pronounce her name, but I like to say "meep" in my head. cause it's fun) and her husband helped hide the Franks in the Annex. And she actually lived to tell about it after it was raided. The only reason I'm talking about this is because I saw a quote the was recently attributed by her and it struck me.
"Imagine young people would grow up with the feeling that you have to be a hero to do your human duty. I am afraid nobody would ever help other people, because who is a hero? I was not. I was just an ordinary housewife and secretary."
At first, I was irritated. I felt like she was completely taking the humble path to the extreme and it was annoying. I didn't see why she just wouldn't accept this deserving compliment. But the more I thought about it, she has a good point. When we so commonly throw around the term "hero, " it does change the definition. And as she so strongly felt, she was acting out her responsibility as a human to help others in need.
So here's my question:
Can people act heroically without actually being a hero?
I'm not sure. It still might be too early for me to really think about that. Help me out. And bring me a latte.
Cheers.
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