How many times in your life have you wished for…waited for…a hero to save you from whatever situation you found yourself in? You wanted a prince, Superman, The Hulk, or God to rescue you from one predicament or another.

I see you…down in a deep hole, hand raised, arm stretched to its limit…waiting for someone to pull you up or out.

It’s time to stop waiting to be saved. Instead, save yourself. Be your own hero.

Take Responsibility

There’s an inherent problem with waiting for a hero—you put your life in someone else’s hands. You make it their responsibility. In fact, it should be your responsibility to save yourself.

I understand that there are times when you genuinely need a hero. If you are in a car accident and get injured, you may need the paramedics to come and do CPR. If you are in an abusive marriage, you might need a lawyer to help get out of it legally. If you need money, you might need a bank to give you a loan.

When the situation isn’t about life or death, is not dependent on anyone else (be honest…usually it’s not), then you need to take responsibility for the situation and the way out of it.

How to Free Yourself

When you finally take responsibility and say to yourself, “I’m the only one who can save myself. I need to step up and become my own hero,” suddenly you become free! You are no longer stuck waiting…hoping…praying…that someone will show up to save you. Instead, you can find your own way out.

In the process, you take back your power. You give yourself the ability to save yourself.

Consider Aron Aron Lee Ralston, an American outdoorsman, mechanical engineer and motivational speaker who is known for surviving a canyoneering accident. During a solo descent of Bluejohn Canyon in southeastern Utah, he dislodged a boulder, which pinned his right wrist to the side of the canyon wall. After five days of waiting for help, he took matters into his own hands…well, hand. Using a dull pocketknife, he amputated his forearm and then made his way through the rest of the canyon, rappelled down a 65-foot drop and hiked seven miles to safety.

Had Aron not decided that only he could save himself, he would have died there in Bluejohn Canyon.

Most of the situations you and I find ourselves in are not as dire. But we can get ourselves out…usually without cutting off a limb.

Don’t Wait for the Prince on the White Horse

I remember feeling stuck in a job. I had been working in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, for a year, and I’d realized that my boss and I would never see eye to eye. Plus, I found myself disappointed to discover that a specific job responsibility I’d been looking forward to was not going to materialize—despite the promise (before hiring) from the employer that it would.

As a writer and editor, there were few opportunities for me in Oklahoma. Actually, there were none. I could have remained stuck in the job…and miserable. I could have waited for someone to arrive on a white horse (after all, I was in Oklahoma) and whisk me away to some job I had no idea existed or that was created just for me.

But I didn’t. I picked myself up and moved to Atlanta—to be my own boss. I created the job of my dreams somewhere else. That was the start of my entrepreneurial journey.

Stop waiting for the prince on the white horse, Hercules or a Jedi. Become that hero for yourself.

When I first became a stepmother, I so wished someone would save me from the overwhelm, turmoil, and pain I experienced. But no one…not even my husband…could save me. Either I had to save myself or get out. I chose to find the inner strength and save myself. But in the initial process of waiting for my hero to show up, I did a lot of damage to the relationships with my stepchildren and my husband. No one could save me from that either…except myself.

Be Your Own Real-Life Hero

Here’s the thing… Anything you have ever accomplished, any change you made to improve your life has been because you made the effort, had the idea, took action, and made it happen. Your achievements to date—no matter how large or small—came from you…not from a hero. You were your own real-life hero.

Yet, here you are…waiting for a hero. You’re looking for a hand reaching down to pull you up…maybe from the Heavens.

You could wait a long time for that help. And you really want it now…not later.

So ask yourself, What could I do to save myself? How can I be my own real-life hero? Write down all the answers you can muster.

If your husband is abusive, you can pack a bag and go to a women’s shelter. If you are feeling ill, you can take yourself to a doctor. If you are feeling stuck with your business or a project, you can hire a coach or find a mentor. If you are in desperate need of money, you can look for work—even a second job. If you want to create something totally new—a painting, book, career, business, relationship—you can do it! You have the power.

Use Your Superpowers

I know it can feel like you can’t do it alone, but you can. You are stronger than you think. You have more answers than you have acknowledged. You have superpowers—the same ones you’ve always had and that have served you well previously.

Somewhere in your wardrobe, there is a Superman or Superwoman costume. Put it on. Imagine yourself swooping in to save yourself. In fact, every day imagine yourself as your own hero. What would you have to do to become that, to step into that role?

I realize that this can feel impossible. There have been times in my life when I honestly believed I need help. But when it didn’t come, I knew it was up to me. If I wanted something to change, I had to create that change…or I had to change.

If Not Now?

Rabbi Hillel said it best: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?” (Ethics of the Fathers, 1:14) You have to take a stand for yourself.

However, Rabbi Hillel said more… “But if I am only for myself, who am I? If not now, when?”

When you become your own hero, you can turn around be of service to others. And I know you want to make a difference in this world in some large or small way. You can’t do that if you don’t save yourself. But you can do it when you exercise your superpowers.

You never know what will happen tomorrow. You can continue to say “I’ll get myself out of my hole soon,” but soon might never come. The hero might not come. There is no time like now for you to step into that role and be your own hero.

Be the hero rather than allowing someone else to be it for you. Take responsibility for yourself and creating the changes you desire. Lift yourself up. Take your hand. Step into your power. Stop waiting for something or someone to save you…and save yourself now.

How will you become the hero in your own life? Tell me in a comment below.

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Photo by Cristian Newman on Unsplash