We have all been pounded with the idea of the mythological hero since we were children. Over and over again, we have experienced the story of larger than life characters risking everything for the greater good of humanity.

Clearly, these stories were trying to teach us something….except, I think most of us missed the message. Or perhaps we didn't miss it, we simply didn't believe or fully understand it.

As I've grown older, I have come to realize that nothing weakens a human being MORE than cynicism. A constant undertone of pessimism and disdain was the battle cry of youth. It is time for a new battle cry.

YES, AS A MATTER OF FACT…

The truth is, I believe all of us CAN become the mythological hero.

No, I'm not talking about lifting buses off the ground, soaring over cityscapes, or controlling the weather with our thoughts. I'm referring to the more pure concept of "hero". All of those stories, all of the well told, epic tales of superheroes rising up from their fears and doubt to save the universe…those are metaphors for our own potential.

Every one of us CAN in fact become a hero in our own lives. We CAN do more. We CAN stop drinking alcohol, or eating too much, or living in fear. We CAN challenge ourselves every hour of every day. We CAN rise above the teachings of guilt and sorrow offered up by our broken culture. We can become as epic and powerful as the heroes portrayed on big screens and across glossy pages.

Every day, every hour, every minute, we CAN live in the moment and achieve beyond anything we've thought possible.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

None of this is possible without one thing: You have to love yourself.

I know it sounds incredibly sappy, one of those touchy feely statements that probably makes your skin crawl. But please, hear me out, this is important.

Everything you do is a reflection of how well you like yourself.

Think about that for a moment. Let it sink in. When you treat someone else poorly, when you poison yourself, when you are not healthy, when you procrastinate on things you should be doing, when you blame outside forces for your own problems…it is all a direct reflection of how you feel about YOU.

Until you can look in the mirror and genuinely say, "Hey, I fuckin' love you," everything else in your life is going to be tainted. Realizing that your actions through life define how you feel about yourself is key to becoming a hero.

ENOUGH FOR NOW

I think I've let this one get away from me a bit…so I'll make it a two part rant. Next time I'll be delving into some new epiphanies about myself and living life.

Trust me, it really DOES have to do with creating comics, and anything else you want to achieve in this life.

Ty Gorton