Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

This entry was orginally posted on Pick Me! 06-30-05:

This week’s Illustration Friday is “Heroes.” The most recent heroic act I’ve experienced in my life happened when I was playing softball a couple of weeks ago. I joined the company softball team because they are in constant need of girls. I told them that I hadn’t played since grade school. They didn’t care. As long as I was female, owned a mitt and was willing to show up at the park every Thursday, they were happy.

A couple of weeks ago, they were really shorthanded and pulled me out of right field to put me in the catcher’s position. The team captain was pitching and I was throwing the worst balls back to him. I was terrified of the batters taking my head off; I was lousy at catching the ball when it looked like it was coming straight for my face. I felt embarrassed and apologized for every errant ball.

The team captain pulled me aside after it was our turn to bat, “Don’t worry about throwing the ball to me. Just do your best and I’ll get it.” It was at that moment that I became a team member. I’ve never felt so good about playing with a team before.

It seems like the heroes of the world are the people who say or do little things. They are so important to the people who received them, but the heroes think nothing of it and go about their day as normal. At some time or another almost everyone is a hero and we don’t even know it.

After so much derision and scorn I experienced for being a fat kid in grade school, having the guy in charge say something nice was like water on parched lips. All of us are just dry sponges wishing that a nice word would come our way. I’m a permanent member of the team now because he didn’t mind me throwing a few stray balls or having to run after the ball when it slipped away from me.

I’ve never seen a super hero. I’ve never met anyone who has saved a life. I’ve only seen the every day heroes that say the exactly right words to save the day. I’ve only met the every day heroes that show up when all is lost and say two simple sentences.