Heros Don't Come Easy

Over the last week, I've been getting re-acquainted with some old friends from my high school days; U2, REM, Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers. Today, the music du jour while I did my morning miles was R.E.M.'s "Automatic for the People." From the tune, "Monty Got a Raw Deal" came the lyric that is the title of this post...so, for the rest of the workout, I was trying to think of folks we consider heros. More importantly, what did these people have to do to gain hero status in the collective eyes and hearts of today's world? The only thing I could come up with was the fact Michael Stipe is right: heros really -don't- come easy. Anyone worthy of being thought of as heroic had to, at some point, either work their righteous butt off, or put the greater good in front of their own. By that rationale, we all need to work at being heroic.