Every day life brings us situations, which require immediate attention and decisions on how we will react to them.

Some people often say that our decisions are mostly emotional and it all depends on the circumstances. By being vague they exclude details. What circumstances? What emotions? Other people say that circumstances make us who we are. At the very end of this line there are those, who believe that everything depends on us and there is no excuse for misbehavior.

As humans we do tend to react primarily emotionally. Emotions have many facets, but one common and important aspect – they pass fast. That is what distinguishes emotions from feelings. Even though we act emotionally at the very beginning of an event, quite quickly we are able to compose ourselves and logically reason.

We all experience fear. I think that humans are more fearful then brave, but our hearts and humanly feelings, is what makes us almost always examine them and have a second thought. The process is much faster then writing about it. It is like a second skin, instinct or automatic reaction to us. First – fight or flight, then feel it and think.

Our behavior, too often for my taste, is retractable behind circumstances, which in fact are excuses. In specific situations decisions must be made fast even though it is risky at times. How we behave in those situations decide how we value ourselves, and in further perspective how it affects our health. In my life I have seen people, who were able to risk their freedom (quite often life as well) and well-being for others and those, who wouldn’t raise a finger to help others being to pre-occupied with their own safety.

War would be the extreme example, but during war we can easily and quickly distinguish between a hero and a coward. I believe that it is a matter of our decisions, not conditions or circumstances. In concentration camps during the Second World War there were many silent heroes, who risked their safety to help those in need (i.e. by providing medicaments, food etc.) and those who would sell out their friends for additional food. My personal hero of almost unreachable format is Dr. Korczak, an organizer and a director of Jewish orphanage in pre-war Warsaw, who has been sent to Auschwitz with “his children”. However Nazi’s offered him relief, since even they marveled him, he has decided to stick to his promise given to the children and ultimately died with them. His honor and closeness to his word was more important to him then his own life. I have mentioned Dr. Korczak, because he is a world-class hero, but there were so many more anonymous heroes! Today we also have many roll-models, who do great deeds for others (not necessarily for other humans, often for fauna and flora as well).

I guess at the end of the day it comes down to us. Main question.. will I (or did I, if asked retrospectively) behave like a coward or not. Can I live for the rest of my life knowing that I could do something for another human being and I did not? I want to believe that it is imprinted in our unconscious mind, our soul and our spirit to do good and proper things, that when time gets tougher, we are getting braver. That we will stand for each other. It is only during leisure time when we think that there are others to serve, so we can go on with our affairs. I believe that in our essence we are all heroes and we will stay this way, because courage, bravery and heart is a trademark of true humans like you and I.

I am truly proud of all of us.