You Are a Hero

By Nancy Rynes, author of Awakenings from the Light

Each moment is an opportunity to learn, to grow, to love, or to take an action that advances you toward your dreams and goals.


What image comes to mind when you think about the phrase, “sacred journey?”

Do you envision traveling to a holy place? Visiting a building such as a temple,  church, or cathedral? Traveling to a distant land to see ancient ruins from a long-gone civilization? 

What if I told you that you are on a sacred journey, right now? 


Finding Your Way, image courtesy Willifred Wende


A sacred journey isn’t just about taking a trip to a religious or spiritual site, going on a pilgrimage, or learning new spiritual practices to help you feel more calm and peaceful. The concept of a sacred journey can be even more expansive…as expansive as your entire life here on this planet. Our lives are actually journeys or adventures because we are all spiritual beings on a path to oneness, to wholeness, to awareness, and to being a conscious part of that sacred, Divine universe while we are still in our human lives. 

This sacred journey is really the adventure of you throughout this life and beyond. You are on your own journey, the principle character in your story.

Yes, you are a hero.


The path of the hero (you) in this life is really the journey to know and live the truth of who you are. A sacred, spiritual being at your core. It is the courageous unapologetic living of your core truth, your connection to Divine love as best as you can, that is the underlying theme of this journey. Living your truth to its fullest extent, without fear, regret, or self-judgment brings you to a place of joy, contentment, and peace that comes as the reward of all grand adventure stories. Living your truth on this journey through life can free you of the shackles of the past so that you can make decisions from a place of love and freedom.

The truth of who you are is that you are a part of the Divine Universe, a "spark" as I called it in Awakenings from the Light. That spark, your soul, is eternal. It is connection. It is love. Your "job" as the hero is to get in touch with that truth and live it as best as you can while still in this life. 

Along your life's journey, you'll have challenges and obstacles to face, just like any hero or heroine does in a movie. Sometimes challenges are mini hero's journeys in and of themselves, sometimes they are just one step as part of your larger adventure.

Challenges along your life's journey present you with endless opportunities to learn, to grow, to make better decisions, or to expand your consciousness. In the end, an important part of the journey is learning how to expand your awareness in this life, and awaken to the expansive reality of who you really are.


Dr. Joseph Campbell popularized the notion of the hero's journey throughout several books and documentaries. It's actually a format for storytelling that's been with us in our human cultures for millennia. Campbell figured out the formula, documented it, and gave it depth and meaning for our lives today.


A Space Adventure: Image courtesy Tom Budach


Campbell's format lays out the general structure of most stories, from episodes of the Big Bang Theory to Star Trek, Star Wars, and Avatar. It isn't the be all and end all of storytelling formats, but what Campbell noticed and popularized was the structure of some of our most beloved adventure tales. Not every adventure story, be it a novel, movie, or a poem, has these elements. But most adventure stories have many of them:


1) Everyday life

2) Hearing the Call to Adventure

3) Refusal of the Call

4) Preparing for the Journey

5) Meeting the Mentors

6) Crossing the Threshold

7) Tests, allies, and enemies

8) The inmost Cave

9) Crisis!

10) Reward

11) The Road Back

12) The Final Battle

13) Return with the Prize


You may go through most, if not all, of these thirteen steps at least once in your life, and perhaps multiple times. Because while your entire life is one grand adventure, you will probably have smaller ones along the way.

Remember, your life is your own personal adventure story, and you are that story's hero.

Do you think of yourself as a hero? Or do you think that distinction belongs to someone else, someone who risks life and limb to help others?

You may be doing that right now without even realizing it.

Small acts of kindness and compassion help more people every day than grand actions of ultimate sacrifice. Every time you are kind or helpful to yourself or someone else, you are a hero to that person.

But there is another definition of hero as well: the one I'm talking about in this article. A hero is the primary character in a story who grows and evolves as the result of challenges she or he faces.

And that describes YOU. 

In your journey through life you face challenges, some big and others small. But I can't think of one of you out there who does not grow and evolve in some way as a result of those challenges. So guess what? That makes you the hero of your own sacred story, the journey or adventure called human life.

But the really cool thing is that you are both the author and hero of your own story. Ultimately, what you learn and how you grow as a result of the challenges that come into your life is up to you. 

Notice I didn't say that the outcome of the challenges themselves is all in your hands. A lot of other things besides you can influence the outcome of an event in you life. But what you learn from those challenges, and how you grow or evolve is up to you.

Next time we'll begin stepping through your journey as the hero of your own story, starting with your "Everyday Life" before you were born.

Until then, peace and love,


Nancy




Each day you are here on this planet is an opportunity to hear and follow that Divine call to adventure, and this adventure you are in right now is just one step in the grander journey of your own larger adventure as a spiritual being.

Stuff You Might Have Missed
Archive: Past Newsletter Issues

TODAY Show: Nancy's Interview on NBC TV's TODAY
          Messages of Hope with Suzanne Giesemann: Exploring NDEs with Nancy Rynes
Article: Seven Lessons That Dying Taught Me About Truly Living (Aspire Magazine)

Article: Lives Changed by NDEs (Boulder Daily Camera)

Article: Awakening to Life(Pages 6-10, Journal of Exceptional Experiences and Psychology, Summer 2016)

Article: The Meaning of Life (Excellence Reporter)

Free webinar series:
 
Simply Peace Part 1

Simply Peace Part 2


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