weak become heroes

...finished training on friday. it was interesting to interact with my classmates in a "support" capacity. it seems to me that most people discount their accomplishments: they don't reward themselves or ratchet up their self-esteem when they are successful, or even when they try something difficult and fail. but they deserve to. isn't there something heroic about a person confronting something that they're terrified of, regardless of the outcome? or in the functional and relatively happy lives that people make for themselves, despite all the hurt they've endured and the impediments in their way? in that sense, we are all heroes, when we don't give up. "That's the spirit!" How can you not be impressed by the way people survive this life, and not just survive, but flourish?

...but, for all the instances in which we are heroes, there are the moments in which we are monsters.