Superheroes

Why doesn't every human being possess the courage and the confidence of their favorite Superhero? As humans we begin by idolizing our parents and then extend that courtesy out to individuals, real or not, whom we admire. Yet, even after finding a superhero that we wish to embody, we usually quickly forget the fundamentals of what makes our favorite superhero great.

I would argue that it has something to do with our evolutionary mechanism to stress. It has been posited that in today's society our stress response has been severely misused. Instead of fighting for our survival , in today's society we fight for resources. We attempt to ascertain monetary value because it has become a symbol for a good life. This makes our "survival" dependent upon how we do in society, whether that be in your career, at school, or among your friends. Every deadline, every interaction, and every mistake can affect your relationship with society and therefore alter your chances at survival. At least, this is what we tend to believe?

Decisions are rarely this battle for life and death, yet, we have come to fear the concept of failure. Society has categorized failure and death as almost synonymous, and as we fight to prevent them both we are constantly battling the stress of decisions that don't drastically alter our lives. Superheroes make the constant decision between life and death to uphold the values of courage, strength, and determination amidst the stress and fear of life and death.

Yet, perhaps the stronger individual is one who can overcome the fear of failure imposed by society to derive those same ideals. Instead of the obvious stress of life and death, each day millions of us are confronted with the minor stresses that seem to greatly deteriorate the lives we wish to live. Happy, healthy, fulfilling. The sheer realization that these minor stresses are simply anything but, may require a greater hero who realizes that each failure is simply an opportunity for growth and development. Each stressor isn't something detracting from ones life, but rather an opportunity to develop ones personal ideology and character. Real hero's exist everyday in gaining something from their downfall.