You wake up to nothing. No money, no food, yet you still put on your shoes and stay focus, you are my hero.

When I hear the word strong I usually associate it with one's ability to recover from just about any dead end he or she is faced with. When people ask me who my heroes are I tell them the ones who beat the odds and continue to pursue the ever challenging difficulties life throws at them. God knows life isn't fair and at some days it can feel like your last.

Whenever I hear someone talking about materialistic things I zone out. I start thinking about the thousands and thousands of homeless men, women and children who don't have the luxury of those materialistic items. When I hear people complaining about how their significant other didn't take them out to a fancy dinner date I think of the millions of Americans who go hungry or live in a food insecure household that would love to have the privilege of eating a steady meal. I'm sorry but I can't just ignore that. IIn fact,have we ignored the needs of others? 42 million Americans in 2015 lived in a food insecure households and that number is climbing. In a world full of me, me, me, how about we start placing others need's before ours?

I remember in school teachers always asked the question 'who is your hero?' I always answered my parents and or grandparents, and while that's still true to this day, the real heroes are the parents who put their own hunger last just to make sure their children have something to eat. To the homeless man who sleeps on the streets but is determined as soon as that sun hits his face to tie his shoes and make today better than yesterday. Or to that older lady in front of you who had to reconsider her purchase because she only has $500 to live on for the month. Those are the real heroes, those are the people who know what hard times are like and yet despite everything still manage to wake up every morning hopeful that something changes.

Always be compassionate, always stay humble, because you just might know when it could be you.