Steps to Living a Heroic Life!

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Michael Casteel, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.

I met a man yesterday who by my definition, is a modern hero. Yet, he shared his concern about the term “hero” and his reluctance to refer to himself in this way.“Feeds the ego in unhealthy ways,” he said. Can you relate? I can’t imagine a time when I referred to myself in this way nor can I recall my personal hero’s referring to themselves as such. SEEMS LIKE THIS IS ONE OF THE ATTRIBUTES OF THE HERO. And yet, is it possible that maybe, just maybe, you’ve been a modern hero in someones eyes? If so, no gold metal required.

What do I mean by a modern hero? What’s this heroic journey all about and how does it apply to you? What makes the modern hero both the same and different from heroes of the past? I offer you my passionate thoughts and insights and invite you to share your own, including examples of modern hero’s from your life and their heroic acts. So let’s dive in!

I’d like to make one thing clear from the start; there are no natural born heroes, neither by genetic lottery or privileged upbringing. Heroes are born out of courageous choices made naturally by women and men with awake minds, courageous hearts and caring souls.

What I refer to as the journey of the modern hero is born out of a restless discontent felt by these same awake, courageous and caring individuals. The start of the modern heroes journey is never planned, always inconvenient, seldom easy, usually met with resistance, especially from the people they care about most and their sanity is questioned, even by themselves at times.

Disenthrallment! This is the first rite of passage that initiates the modern heroes journey. This means leaving behind the comfort and safety of the conditioned self; all the assumptions, ideas and beliefs about self, others and the world that s/he has either inherited or concluded based on limited information. Embarking on this journey of fierce Self-discovery offers no guarantees of happiness or material success, nor the esteem of others or loved ones. Like following the scent of a lovers smell, the hope of tasting for the first time, with one’s own tongue, reality itself in its pure virgin state; this alone is more than compelling enough to take the journey, for those having an awake mind, courageous heart and hungry soul.

The promise of this inner journey is an awakened liberated life that is literally, beyond belief; beyond the limiting thought patterns, fear based beliefs and control strategies rooted in the dominating belief in the separate, independent self. One of my teachers, Richard Moss calls this leap in consciousness, the first miracle. This miracle is responsible for extraordinary scientific discoveries, extended human lifespan and the modern conveniences we enjoy and take for grated today.

The competing ideas of individualism verses collectivism has dominated world culture from the beginning. This clash in ideology and has gotten us to where we are today. Yet it can not take us to where we can and must go, if we are to survive as a species and thrive as planet. a transformation towards interdependence must occur. S/he, the modern hero realizes this and becomes their joyful burden.

TODAYS MODERN HERO IS THE STEWARD OF HUMANITIES DESTINY – A WORLD THAT WORKS FOR EVERYONE!

The yearning for our lives to be about something more than surviving and accumulating is at the essence of the human soul and source of great myth, legend and spiritual realization. I wonder, is this yearning that I feel so deeply at times, Spirit itself working through me and through you, against all the forces of entropy, calling us to become something more. I wonder if all people, when safe enough and quiet enough and honest enough, also feel this joyful ache?

The Modern Hero….

knows that life has given each of us a core wound to be healed and a core purpose to be fulfilled. This is the soul-work that each of us is here to do! It’s both our greatest contribution to Life and where we find our wholeness and deepest joy!
Heroes of the past lived in a world of good versus evil, light in a constant battle against the dark. This old consciousness remains dominant still today. Yet, a new consciousness is emerging and inevitable if we are to survive. The mythological imagery of the hero “SLAYING THE DRAGON” is being replaced by the modern hero seeking to know the dragon, empathize with his fears and see her potentially distractive power as a value rather than seeing the dragon as the enemy. For the new modern hero, It’s about connecting versus conquering; integrating rather than dividing. The days of “divide and conquer.” no longer serves the evolutionary quest for something more. Can you imagine the new marching orders, “We shall connect and integrate!” Okay, while still a leap, how about, “LOVE AND MAKE WHOLE!”

The modern hero also learns to connect with the cut off dragon parts within himself and find ways to accept this dragon and even discover the dragon’s gifts, eventually learning to love the dragon s/he once feared and hated. The new image of the modern hero is one of Not slaying but instead RIDING ON THE BACK OF THE DRAGON’ together as one, harnessing the raw power of the dragon in service to love and the enrichment of life!

If enough modern heroes of the world can collectively harness the power available to us with awake minds and feeling hearts we can make this important shift towards interdependence to happen. The once divided nations of the world will seek to connect rather than enter in to combat. Individuals will begin to shift from the old fear based either-or thinking and protecting and proving behaviors to new freedom based thinking of “both-and” and the connecting and expressing behaviors that naturally follow.

I’m passionate about people like you and I taking the modern hero’s journey towards a world that works for everyone!

The few, who I’m calling the modern heroes are paving the way for our next level of consciousness to emerge; born from love not fear, promoting inclusion versus exclusion, emphasizing cooperation over competition, celebrating individual uniqueness versus discrimination, voluntary transparency versus secrecy, all in the spirit of unity verses separation.

If you’ve read this far, you are likely one of modern heroes that this post intended to be a tribute to, although you’d never clam the title. Like the man I mentioned at the start of this post, this is one of the attributes of a real hero.

What to do:

1. BE the change you want to see in the world by demonstrating both your vulnerability and strength of purpose together. Acknowledge your own wounds and limiting beliefs that have held you back while demonstrating your authentic power of by being on purpose and sharing your gifts. Example: I’ve felt weak, fragmented and never enough for most of my life. Today I’m passionately using my gifts in service to wholeness.

2. If you have unhealed wounds from your past or get hijacked by limiting beliefs that take you out of your heart, make the heroic choice to get the help you need to heal the wounds and bust the lies once and for all.

3. If you are not living your SOUL TRUE LIFE that you are meant, haven’t uncovered and claimed your core purpose and right livelihood, be the hero of your life by making this you purpose above all else!

4. Notice whenever you are tempted to inflate/prove or deflate/withdraw and make the conscious choice to stop this separating behavior by choosing to stay open and a remain present. You may just need to stop in mid sentence and say something like, “I noticed I was attempting to prove something, guess my ego was trying to impress again, oops.” or “I just noticed I’m starting to do my shutting down thing again. I’m letting you know so that you won’t mistake it for being aloof. I’ll share if I have something to contribute, promise.”

5. If this resonates with you and you’d like to take your next step on this journey, contact me, Michael Casteel, to schedule a time to meet. We can meet in person, phone or Skype free of any charge. It’s my gift to you for you for choosing this journey.

6. Whether your current life path is lined with stepping stones leading to your desired destination or your path seems filled with stumbling blocks in every direction; will you choose to….

LIVE BEYOND BELIEF & BE THE HERO OF YOUR ONE, WILD, AMAZING AND PRECIOUS LIFE!