Earlier last week Bernie Sanders announced that he was dropping out of the 2020 Presidential election, and even though I knew it was a long time coming, my heart still broke. 

I felt the same way when Elizabeth Warren, who for the longest was my first choice candidate, dropped out a couple months ago. I felt that way when the results from the 2016 senate election came out and I saw Beto O’Rourke lose to Ted Cruz. For the last few years many political events have left me feeling heartbroken, upset, and incredibly disappointed.

It’s such a harrowing feeling, watching the people you root for lose over and over and over again. 

You see, I’m part of the generation that grew up with the sudden resurgence of dystopian literature and heroic movies. We watched as Harry Potter destroyed the man who reaped havoc to his world, read about Katniss Everdeen toppling the faschist regime that she had lived in her entire life, and saw dozens of comic book characters win their battles on the large cinema screens. 

It’s been drilled into our heads that no matter what the hero will always come up on top, they will always win. But lately it seems like all my heroes just keep losing, and it’s become quite demoralizing. 

Because of this, I’ve become fascinated with the idea of being a hero, whatever that may mean. The movies and books always seem to tell us that a hero is the one with the superpowers, or the magic, or the other-wordly abilities, but over the years I’ve come to realize is that a hero is not made a hero because of what they can do, but rather because of what they choose to do. 

True heroism lies in the little things, such as the choices we make or the actions we take. 

Harry Potter was not a hero because of his magic powers, but because he used his magic to defeat the evil that surrounded him. He killed the evil by having courage, not by simply casting a few spells. Much like the way that Katniss Everdeen didn’t start a revolution with her superhuman archery skills, she started it with a handful of poisonous berries. Captain America decided to fight the Nazis before he even had super strength. Bruce Banner was saving lives as a doctor before he became the Hulk. 

It is easy to see all of these bigger than life heroes and come to the conclusion that in order to make a difference, you must be stronger, taller, louder, or have more power. But that could not be further than the truth. 

It doesn’t take a superhuman, or a half-God, or a mythical being to be a hero or to cause a revolution. In a world where truth is a choice of which side you believe and identity is more important than togetherness, the act of being a thinking individual with empathy to match is a revolution in and of itself. 

We are living in troubling times right now, and there are going to be a lot of choices to make, and a lot of voices that will tell you what to believe and what to do. There will be issues in the world that will disturb you, and there will be even more people telling you that there is nothing you can do to solve them. 

They’ll point to the Bernie Sanders, the Elizabeth Warrens, and the Beto O’Rourke’s of the world, and try to use them as examples as to how your efforts may be futile. 

They will tell you that to believe in a cause bigger than yourself is downright quixotic and that the change you’re trying to achieve is unattainable. 

I urge you to not give into those people, and to not ignore the causes that keep you up at night. What they fail to realize is that even though those men and women didn’t make it to the finish line, their very action of trying inspired millions, caused change, and helped bring the end goal closer. 

Contrary to what some may say, it doesn’t take much to be a hero and to change the world by standing up to the big bad men. Sometimes all it takes is one word, one letter, one berry, or even one pen. 

Write to your representatives, even if others say it won’t help. Protest in the streets, even if others say your cause is hopeless. 

The world was never changed by cowardice, and that is something we should never forget. No matter what the others say, we must always be vigilant and loud in the fights against injustice, because it is not those who actively oppress that we should be afraid of, but rather those who sit idly by, believing blindly and protecting foolishly. 

Even if we fail, and fail, and fail, one day we will come out on top. The change you want is nearer than you may believe, but you can never get there unless you keep trying and taking action.