Real Heroism is Great. Tedious Daily Work is Better

Humans idolize heroes. There will always be respect and admiration for people who, during an emergency, will put themselves in danger to save others. Stories of heroes (super or otherwise) coming to the rescue make for great movies, TV shows, books and news stories.

During the COVID19 pandemic, we can now see the amazing stories of nurses, doctors, truck drivers, first responders, grocery store workers, IT maintenance staff, delivery people, transit workers, and other essential workers, who put themselves in harm's way to keep society functioning.

However having a situation requiring heroic rescues in the nick of time or other people having to sacrifice themselves means that somewhere along the way, something went horribly wrong with the system in place. It means that something didn't work and that an incident should have been prevented.

So while heroism is great and will always be welcome, we as a society should really put more focus on reasonable, preventative measures and maintenance to stop problems before they start. Or at the very least, if we can't prevent it, have safeguards in place to minimize the damage that a potential incident can make. No, it's not as sexy as having a hero swoop in and save the day but it's just as important. It takes tedious, boring, daily maintenance work to stop disasters before they happen.

The Myth of "Easy"

We've all probably heard our friends, colleagues and family members say things that are similar to the following:

"It's easier to skip the gym and not exercise."

"It's easier to spend and not to save money."

"It's too difficult to stay disciplined when it comes to eating healthy."

"It's easier to goof off instead of going to school and to learning a skill."

"It's difficult to get up and go to work. I'd rather sleep in and call in sick."

"It's easier to use an app to get McDonald's delivered to my door than to go grocery shopping and cooking myself a healthy meal."

"It's easier to plop on the couch next to my significant other and watch Netflix instead of taking the time to sit down and have a conversation."

In the short term, sure the examples above may seem like the "easier" options. I would make the argument that if you look at the long term, going for the "difficult" options are actually what will make your life easier in the future.

Here are a few examples:

What's easier? Regularly exercising to strengthen your body or being so weak in your old age that you're living in constant fear of falling down and not being able to get up?

What's easier? Eating a serving of vegetables at each meal, or having to go a doctor because you're so constipated that you've only pooped once in the last 3 days?

What's easier? Getting up and going to school and/or work every day or being homeless at 60 years old?

What's easier? Delaying that major purchase to put money away for your retirement or being in your 70s and not having enough money to buy both food AND medication?

What's easier?  Making the effort to have small, meaningful, daily conversations with your significant other or going through divorce proceedings?

What's easier?  Going to school and getting an education or being unable to pay your bills because you can't get a job due to your lack of credentials and training?

Sure, some of these examples are maybe a bit extreme or "strawman-ish" but you get the idea. A lot of what we're doing (or not doing) in the short term might feel like the "easier" thing to do, but if you take a long term look, what we're actually doing is choosing to make our life harder in the long term.  So the next time you hear your inner voice telling you to take the easy path, just ask yourself, if it really is easier in the long run.