The Heroic Minute

"The old fairy tales endure for ever. The old fairy tale makes the hero a normal human boy; it is his adventures that are startling; they startle him because he is normal." ~ G.K. Chesterton

Each of us lives their heroic minute.

The quarantine revealed a lot of heroes, unheralded though, but they were normal in their circumstance. No fairy tale. No adventures.

Have you ever heard about the heroic minute? This was an excellent idea inculcated to me during my high school days. 

It has never left me since then. No matter how much I would like to get it out of my system.

It was always there. It always prompted me to be a hero. Day in, day out.

What is the Heroic Minute all about? Waking up at a specified time without vacillation, waver, or reluctance.

It is the simple act of conquering my lazy body after a night’s rest and sleep and telling myself to get up because I need to get up!

What’s the purpose of this?

To control your body. Aberrant daydreaming or unnecessary snoozing is dumped into the trash bin of corporal lethargy. 

As if you are not aware, your body has already deserved its specified hours of the sleep cycle (REM to be exact, which I shall expound in another post!). 7 ? hours to be exact.

The first skirmish of the day! 

Win this battle and your war for the day is almost done. 

You conquered yourself to the degree that others would still stay in bed relishing the soft pillow or cool breeze or finishing off a dream. 

The reality is you are given another day: seize the day! Win this battle! Go off to war!

What is so heroic about it?

Heroes are usually made by future generations, never the present. 

You talk about the present-day heroes. These are unheralded praises given to others to inspire those who have difficulty fighting their battles. And mind you, these are personal battles.

Henri Frederic Amiel said: “Heroism is the brilliant triumph of the soul over the flesh. Heroism is the dazzling and glorious concentration of courage.”

Waking up in the morning, without hesitation getting up and starting your day. That is conquering your inner self. 

Heroism is taking hold of oneself. Heroism is dying to oneself. 

It becomes something selfless. 

A continuous battle that only one can win. There is no stalemate. Either you lose or you win. Either you get up or you are down.

“The greatest obstacle to being heroic is the doubt whether one may not be going to prove one’s self a fool; the truest heroism is to resist the doubt; and the most profound wisdom, to know when it ought to be resisted, and when it be obeyed.” Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Start your day, A Hero!

Heroism is never announced. It is lived.

 It is a lifestyle. It is part of your day. 

You are not the early worm slouching along. 

You are the early bird getting the best part of the day.

As a famous priest once remarked: “The heroic minute. It is the time fixed for getting up. Without hesitation: a supernatural reflection and.. up!

“The heroic minute: here you have a mortification that strengthens your will and does no harm to your body.” - St. Josemaría Escrivá

Be a hero. Others gaze upon your next step. 

Then, they shall follow.