Essential Questions

Be the Hero
Today my friend Noah Blumenthal is launching his new book, Be the Hero, a book on the stories we tell ourselves, and how they shape the way that we respond to circumstances - and the way that we plan ahead as a result of these stories. If you're wondering how much the stories we tell ourselves matter, I'd highly recommend Noah's book. 

Why today (August 4, 2009)?
Today is the day to buy! Since the book already hit #23 on the Amazon bestseller list, Noah is donating 50% of today's royalties to the Miami Children's Hospital. If it hits the New York Times best seller list (which counts purchases through Saturday), 100% of the royalties from this week to Miami Children's.

Who are your heroes?
A few days ago I picked up a biography of Eric Liddell, the famed runner portrayed by Ian Charleson in the Oscar-winning film, Chariots of Fire. I couldn't put it down. Of course, I knew the story celebrated in the film: Liddell refused to run in preliminary heats of the 100m of the 1924 Paris Olympics because they were held on a Sunday (even though he was a gold-medal contender). Instead he entered the the 400m, for which he had never trained, and won the gold medal, setting a new world record.

What I had forgotten since I read this biography the first time is all of the reasons that Eric is a hero to me. On one occasion he ran against a black athlete (which was uncommon for the time for reasons of historic racism and segregation). Eric not only continued his habit of shaking the hands of the other runners and wishing them well, he took off his own warmups and gave them to the black runner, who had none. 

After winning the gold medal in Paris in 1924, Eric set out as a missionary to China, turning down the opportunity to train train full-time for the next Olympics. And although he was not invited to run for Great Britian in 1928, in that same year he turned in times at the South Manchurian Railway celebrations that would have earned him the gold in both the 200m and 400m at the Amsterdam Olympics - and that without significant training!

And for those who think that Eric was uptight and self-righteous not to run on a Sunday, there is more to the story. While serving in China, he was "interned" by the Japanese in a prison camp, where he died just two months before the camp was liberated on May 2, 1945. In that camp, Eric refereed football (soccer) matches for the children in the camp, who were only allowed to play sports on Sunday. He would not run for his own acclaim on a Sunday - much to the consternation of many of his fellow Scots, but was willing on Sunday after Sunday to be a referee for children. This was not lost on the children who were imprisoned with Eric. They rightly regarded him as a hero of the first order - as I do.


Where would we be without biographies of heroes to lift our eyes and change our horizons? Who are your heroes? How do you tell your children hero tales? How do your heroes influence the stories you tell yourself about what really matters?