Blog#2 Everyone's a Hero

 A Personal Take on a Hero's Journey
-Eloisa James A. Sonio (III-2 BEE)

        “Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting their own battle that you know nothing about.” - John Watson.  The quote by Watson, in particular, has been my inspiration in what I am writing on this blog. Because after our class watched the movie “Hercules'' and read Scott Jeffrey's Blog “The Hero’s Journey; The Ultimate Road-map for Self-development”, it made me reflect on my own journey and I was opened up to new realizations. I saw how the journey of a hero is applicable to all. We can say that everybody is a hero for we all are on a journey of our own. 

        As a pastor’s kid, who spent most of her life at church, I have been taught about Christ. Now that I have a personal relationship with him, I have a calling to follow him completely. There are denials, negotiations and doubts within myself at first. But when I come to realize that nothing else matters more in this world than the Lord, I have accepted what God wants me to do. Of course, it is hard, it was a long and vicious process of changing myself to obey him and let him take control of my life, but I endured. I will not say that I had completed my journey, rather I am still on it. If we are going to liken it with the 10 stages, I think I am at Stage 4; Trials, Friends and Foe. Wherein it was stated “Along the hero’s journey, the main character encounters many obstacles. Some people may try to stop you along your quest—possibly saying you’re unreasonable or unrealistic.” The trials were actually within me. I have been fighting with my own mind about how unworthy and undeserving I am to be a disciple of Jesus because of my past sins and weaknesses. However, God’s voice encourages me and offers me constant forgiveness and renewal in my life. I know it will not be all rainbows and butterflies as Maroon 5 said in their song “She will be loved”. Yet I am compelled to carry on because the Bible tells me that “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance;  perseverance, character; and character, hope.” at Romans 5: 3-4. So as long as I live, I will endure my journey for Christ. 

Leading Praise and Worship in a Christmas Institute (2016)

Leading the Program of a Christmas Institute (2018)

Being elected as the President of the Youth District in Northeast Cavite (2019)

Remember how I said that I was at stage 4, Jeffrey indicated how friends can also stop you along your quest. I have this particular friend whom I dearly cherished but for a reason, she didn’t tell me, she stopped replying to my messages. It must have been something I said because we were totally fine before. When she started ignoring me I felt extreme loneliness. I never had a lot of friends that clicked with my faith and lifestyle, the same way she did. So, I felt like I had lost her. I tried messaging her a lot of times but she just “seen” those. As I venture to find her reason, it only reminds me of my shortcomings. Eventually, I sought my mother’s advice, which can be paralleled to Stage 5, “Generally, at an early stage of the adventure, the hero is graced by the presence of a wise sage. Personified in stories as a magical counsellor, a reclusive hermit, or a wise leader, the mentor’s role is to help guide you.“ What’s good is that, unlike a wise sage in a hero’s journey, who is usually just there for a short time, my mother will never leave my side and will always be available to help whenever I need her. My mom enlightened me that I should just keep on approaching her even when she doesn't reply. She told me that I should never stop being her friend even when she doesn't have the same sentiments. I should be understanding, and learn to be the bigger person. That said, I realized that maybe the reason why my friend was acting this way was-she is still grieving because of her mom’s death. I know that it is very difficult to lose a mother but I can’t recognize her pain because I was too focused on my own feelings. Maybe this is just her way of coping. In Stephen Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, he explained how important it is to have a paradigm shift in order to resolve a problem. So, if you are going through a crisis, learn to see it from the inside. Ask yourself, What changes can I do within myself so that I can resolve this problem? One story he told there was about a man with five annoying and loud kids riding the subway and apparently, the father didn’t care about his children’s behaviour. The author was being patient about the kid’s noise but when he ran out of patience, he confronted the man and said: “Sir, your children are really disturbing a lot of people. I wonder if you couldn’t control them a little more?” Then the father softly replied, realizing the situation, “Oh, you’re right. I guess I should do something about it. We just came from the hospital where their mother died about an hour ago. I don’t know what to think, and I guess they don’t know how to handle it either.” I couldn’t agree more with the humiliation of the author when he realized the reason why this family was acting the way they did. My problem with my friend doesn't seem like that much of a problem anymore the moment I start to look from her perspective. And if only I address all my trials from the inside out and change something about myself on the way I perceive things, things would not be so hard after all. 

A book that I am currently reading

Joseph Campbell looked for the similarities between cultural myths and religious stories and it was elaborated by Jeffrey and said “The monomyth is a universal story structure. It’s a kind of story template that takes a character through a sequence of stages. The main character in the monomyth is the hero.” Although being a hero is an archetype, we can compare it to us, humans, who are the real-time heroes because of the process of personal transformation that we are all in. And the journey that the ideal champions have can be likened to the problems in life. Just like me, who are on the journey to follow the Lord, my friend who is battling with grief over the loss of her mom, everyone else is also facing their own problems. The rich and poor, the black and white, the ugly and beautiful, the smart and fool, the young and old, the believer and sceptic, they all do. No one is exempted from the turmoils of life. We are all heroes in our own stories or the main characters of our own dramas because we are beings who are capable of action. Hence, even our enemies, the people who are so hard to love, or the ones committing sins, are also just like us. We are all struggling to overcome different things in life, to achieve a dream, to defeat the odds, to go the distance. So, who are we to judge? Who are we to condemn? This is one practice that is taught to us Christians over and over again, which can be found in Matthew 22:39 “And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.” We don’t know what people are going through right now. So all we have got to do is written in the first two words of the first paragraph of this blog. 

In conclusion, everyone is a hero, who are all within a journey to go the distance.  Some are just starting, some in the middle and some are already finishing yet somehow, already beginning a new one. Because things just go around.  Although, when we think that we already overcome one, there is always another obstacle. After all, what is being changed was not our situation but our character. Life is but a cycle of self-development and growth.  Hercules, the son of the gods-Zeus and Hera even sung “I'll be there someday, I can go the distance, I will find my way if I can be strong, I know every mile would be worth my while, When I go the distance, I'll be right where I belong”. Likewise, we just need to continue and be strong. Then someday everything will fall right into place.

References: 

Bart, R. (1997, May 27). Go the distance. Genius Media Group Inc. . https://genius.com/Roger-bart-go-the-distance-lyrics

Be kind; Everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. (2010, June 29). Quote Investigator – Tracing Quotations. https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/06/29/be-kind/

Bible gateway passage: Romans 5:3-4 - English standard version. (n.d.). Bible Gateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%205%3A3-4&version=ESV

Covey, S. R. (2004). The 7 habits of highly effective people: Powerful lessons in personal change. Simon & Schuster.

Jeffrey, S. (2020, February 18). Hero’s journey steps: 10 stages to Joseph Campbell's Monomyth. CEO Sage. https://scottjeffrey.com/heros-journey-steps/?fbclid=IwAR3wabKE3euoflvibcgruR2Q1TWywP4ThQV7FneIiba8vEuSKPNtCBwyr4

Matthew 22:39 and the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'. (n.d.). Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages. https://biblehub.com/matthew/22-39.htm