Last Friday, I got a chance to meet a hero. It was anti climactic in a way. Not exactly how I envisioned meeting a hero would be like. I was expecting an adulating crowd with him. Or a horde of security that follows certain hero athletes around. I was expecting him to be, well, I expected him to be special.

He was not. He was so ordinary that if I had never ever seen a picture of him before, I would have walked by him without even giving him a second glance. And yet, the world , through the global news channel, has chosen to confer on him the title, CNN Hero of the Year.

I don’t need to tell you what Efren Penaflorida did, or what his accomplishments were that made him deserving to win that historic award. But in case you didn’t know, he is not the pound for pound symbol of athletic excellence. Nor is he one that possesses amazing vocal or physical talent. He actually defines the word ordinary.

He is so ordinary that upon arriving at the doorstep of his country, a fellow countryman even tried to steal his things. Doesn’t that put a lot of things into perspective?

I walked and watched, from the other end of the street, as the parade in his honor crawled through Makati. The parade ended in a makeshift stage where bands started to play in his honor. As I stood there watching and enjoying the show, a man stood beside me watching. The crowds had began to fill and we ended up standing side by side. I glanced at him and had to take a second glance, I was standing beside him. Just like that, I met the CNN hero of the year, in the crowd, unobtrusive, alone, very ordinary, at a concert in his honor.

We keep searching for heroes. When we were young, we longed and dreamt that our superheroes would always show up and save the world. As we grew older, we still kept searching in vain for more heroes to show up. We even starting raising the bar on what it meant to be one. We almost even demanded that a hero should also be defined as a martyr, someone that sacrificed everything for us to idolize and emulate him or her.

Maybe that has always been our problem. We keep seeking out heroes with super powers or super achievements. We want to be helplessly standing at the sidelines and watch for the appearance of a hero to save ourselves, our situation and even our country.

This Christmas, lets reflect on how each of us can emulate Efren’s example. His simple acceptance speech was straight to the point. He emotionally spoke,

“Our planet is filled with heroes, young and old, rich and poor, man, woman of different colors, shapes and sizes. We are one great tapestry…Each person has a hidden hero within, you just have to look inside you and search it in your heart, and be the hero to the next one in need.

So to each and every person inside in this theater and for those who are watching at home, the hero in you is waiting to be unleashed.

Serve, serve well, serve others above yourself and be happy to serve.

As I always tell to my co-volunteers … you are the change that you dream as I am the change that I dream and collectively we are the change that this world needs to be.”

We can all be heroes. We need to be the change that we want to see. Thank you Efren. Lets all be the hero we can be! Merry Christmas everybody!

Let’s follow the examples of these ordinary individuals as they strive to make a difference. Each week, lets all get together and share knowledge, stories, experiences, information, all for the sole purpose of getting One Step Up.

For comments, suggestions or stories that you want to share, email me at stirspecialist@gmail.com , or visit www.stirspecialist.blogspot.com