Be The Hero of Your Own Life

Unique Perspectives: Be The Hero of Your Own Life

By Kim Stevens

Have you ever heard of a Hero’s Journey?

It’s something I first learned about when I watched a show with Joseph Campbell. He describes going on this Hero’s Journey that starts with a call to adventure, winds through all the trials and tribulations of challenge, then finally ends up where the hero first began, only this time the hero is endlessly enlightened and transformed, inherently different from who they used to be. 

“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek,” Campbell said, and the idea of becoming the hero of my own life, taking control and taking responsibility for the good – and the not so good – has had a deep impact on me. 

Campbell’s words got me thinking that we are each on our own Hero’s Journey. What we make of this journey is up to us, and where we start (and end) is entirely of our own creation. 

“No one’s coming,” is another phrase I add to this idea. There is no one coming to save me, to make decisions for me or run my life. It’s me. Always me. And I must take charge by making sure that I’m running my life, and not running my life by someone else’s standards.

Creating a vision has helped me stay in charge … So has this important reminder: I can save myself from anything because I am my own hero, on a journey that’s entirely, irrevocably and irresistibly mine.