I think of a Hero as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his Freedom.

I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom. – Bob Dylan

Meaning  of  Quote  :
This is an interesting quote in that it reminds us that freedom comes with responsibility. Ask anyone what their favorite freedom is and they will likely talk for quite some time. Only in the most rare cases will you hear the word ‘responsibility’ mentioned while they are busy talking about their favorite freedoms.

The quote starts out mentioning heroes, a word that is often casually used in modern times. This quote defines a hero as someone who understands not only freedom, but understands both the responsibility as well as the degree of responsibility that is theirs to shoulder. The implication that I take from the quote is that the more freedom you exercise and the greater your reach, the greater your responsibility.

Why are heroes important?  
There are the obvious heroes, those who have a job that puts them in harms way so you can be safe. The military, firefighters, police, emergency medical teams, rescue personnel, and so many more. Those are the most obvious of the heroes, complete with special vehicles, loud sirens, and uniforms.

I consider a second tier of heroes (although I believe the term is a bit loose in this usage). This would include the ethical journalists, who search for the truth and publish fearlessly. They have a great reach, and great influence, and therefore have the responsibility to make sure all is correct and that the information gets to those who need it. Unfortunately, there seem to be few of these left in the world.

Also in the second tier would be the sheepdogs of the world. Those who risk themselves to stop a robbery, to help at the scene of an accident and otherwise help to care for those who are suddenly in need. They have the responsibility that comes with the combination of skill and need. That is the price of their freedom to pursue their areas of talent.

Finally, there are the rest of us. While we may never make the news for having saved a life, found critical information, or stopped a crime, we have the tougher task of exercising our freedoms and responsibilities every day, a little at a time. It is so easy to indulge one and forget to maintain the other.

Where can we apply this in our life ?
If you are one of the obvious heroes (or have discharged your responsibility with honor), you have my gratitude. If you have managed to defend your freedom by using your abilities or skills, you also have my gratitude. Even if you are only trained (or continuing to work on your skills) for such possibilities, you have my gratitude.

If you are among those who have been able to keep current with your responsibilities, you also have my gratitude. The rest of us, we have our work cut out for us, right? We have to figure out how we will exercise our responsibilities as well as our freedoms.

To do this, I try to think of them as pairs. If your favorite freedom is the freedom of speech, then consider the responsibility that comes with it. The first that comes to my mind is the responsibility to tell the truth. The greater your voice, the greater the responsibility is to tell the truth.

What responsibility might go with the freedom to go where you want? Perhaps it is to take care of the places you go, to leave the area no worse for your having been there, and a little better, if you can make it happen. What else can you think of that goes with the freedom of movement?

What responsibility goes with the freedom to vote? Besides actually getting to the polls and voting, would n’t you think that doing your homework might be part of that responsibility? Researching the candidates, checking the issues, and determining where you stand on the issues would be part of that as well, I would think. What do you think?

To me, it seems so easy to take freedoms for granted, especially in countries that have had certain freedoms for a long time. In the USA, we have the freedom to vote for our leaders, but rarely get high percentages of voters showing up to actually vote.

We were embarrassed as a country that bad weather reduced the number of voters, when in Iraq and Afghanistan, snipers and homicide bombers could n’t stop the voters. That is the energy of a newly found freedom, and the understanding of the responsibility that goes with it.

We can all do better, even though some of us are already doing more than their share of shouldering the responsibility that comes with freedom. What will you do today? What will you do tomorrow? What can you contribute? What is your responsibility?