A hero is a person who faces and overcomes many challenges. A hero could be considered inspiring because they push themselves and overcome many challenges which motivate others to do the same. Not only are heroes inspiring, they are selfless too. They put others before themselves and they always try their best to help others out. Being selfless and inspiring are important aspects of being a hero. Without having the helping hand of a hero and their ways to inspire us, we wouldn’t be motivated enough to face the obstacles that lie ahead of us in life.
Being selfless and always lending a helping hand is a very important aspect of being a hero. Duke Kahanamoku is a great example of this. He often gave advice to younger swimmers to help them improve their swimming technique (Gale In Context: Biography). And not only did he do that, he also saved lives. The Thelma yacht capsized with 29 people on board. Duke with only his surfboard decided to go out there and save eight people (Gale In Context: Biography).
Duke’s selflessness is obviously very impactful because if he decided to do nothing and take no action then those eight people who he saved would’ve died. If he didn’t want to take his own personal time out of his day and help other people he didn’t have to, but instead he did and he made a great impact on people. A hero who did something very similar to Duke is Eddie Aikau who is greatly recognized for his selflessness. As people were voyaging the Hokule’a a big storm hit causing the canoe to capsize. Aikau decided to head out into the storm with his surfboard to go try and save people. Some people made it back to shore, but Aikau didn’t. He disappeared and was never seen since that day (Matthew Dekneef).
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The famous phrase “Eddie would go” isn’t just about surfing big waves that others wouldn’t, it reflects on Aikau’s selflessness and how he took a risk for others because he thought that was the right thing to do. If Aikau hadn’t done this then some people would have never thought to do the same. Having selflessness is an important aspect of being a hero in which Duke and Eddie definitely proved.
Another very important characteristic that a hero shall possess is inspiration. Eddie Aikau was a naturally talented surfer who also had a ton of endurace with big waves (Gale In Context: Biography). Other surfers were inspired to be like him and they were motivated to work hard as he did. Eddie going out and trying to save the lives of people was also a huge eye opener for others. After Aikau’s disappearance many people started to be kind and do as Eddie would. Eddie inspired many to do great things in life even if it meant taking a risk (Matthew Dekneef).
Duke, known as “The Father of Surfing” touched the lives of countless people. He accomplished many things and overcame many challenges. He competed in the olympics several times and won several medals, brought surfing from the West to the East coast, and all the way to Australia (Grady Timmons). He was also very famous for developing a new swimming style that made him unbeatable (Gale In Context: Biography). Others looked up to Aikau and were inspired to work hard like him, not only in sports but in everything. Many were also inspired to bring their cultures to other parts of the world just as he did. Eddie and Duke inspired many others to do amazing things in life even if it is scary, hard, or challenging and showed that being inspiring is a huge part of being a hero.
A hero wouldn’t be a hero if they weren’t selfless and inspiring because if we didn’t have our heroes to help guide us and inspire us to go in the right direction then we could lose the motivation to reach our targets in life and be the great person that we can be. If we are selfless then we can help others out while giving yourself a good feeling at the same time. If we are selfless and inspirational and can inspire others to do the same then our whole world wouldn’t be so full of chaos and many more people would be happy. It is important that heroes exhibit these traits because if heroes don’t then our world wouldn’t be so friendly and cultured. If heroes do great things on their own then many people will be inspired to do great things also. Without our great heroes to help and inspire us, we wouldn’t be as far in life as we are now.
Works Cited
- ‘Duke Kahanamoku.’ Encyclopedia of World Biography Online, vol. 20, Gale, 2000. Gale In Context: Biography, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1631007529/BIC?u=powa9245&sid=BIC&xid=27f610e4. Accessed 17 Jan. 2020.
- Matthew, Dekneef. “The Profound Significance behind ‘Eddie Would Go’.” Hawaii Magazine, Hawaii Magazine, 14 Dec. 2018, www.hawaiimagazine.com/content/profound-significance-behind-%E2%80%98eddie-would-go%E2%80%99.
- Timmons, Grady. “Hawaii’s Finest Olympian Duke Kahanamoku.” Career Kokua, The Hawai’i Career Information Delivery System, 19 Aug. 2004, 9:48AM, careerkokua.hawaii.gov/career/article/?id=101.
