Are you the victim, the villain, or the hero?

"As fish are caught in a cruel net,
or birds are taken in a snare,
so men are trapped by evil times
that fall unexpectedly upon them."

Ecclesiastes 9:12

Hard times will come and trouble will find us all. It is never a question of whether or not we will go through trials. The question is: how are you going to deal with the trial?

My dad taught me that in every story there are three characters: the victim, the villain, and the hero. In life, he said, we can choose which character we play and our choice becomes apparent during times of trouble.

When the hard times come, those who take the victim role are inwardly focused and paralyzed by such thoughts as "Why did this happen to me?" "It's not my fault," and "When will this tragedy end?" They do nothing and let their surroundings determine the outcome of their situation.

The villain is self-centered but outwardly focused. He or she lashes out at others saying "This is your fault and I'm going to get back at you." He or she desires to cause the same pain that is caused to them, whether real or imagined. Consequently, they hurt other people, many of whom are in no way involved.

Those who have chosen the hero mentality, however, deal with the tragedy in a positive, constructive way. They think, "How can I overcome this?" "How can I learn and grow from this?" and "If others are hurting in the same way that I am, how can I help them?" The hero will take positive action. This is unlike the victim who takes no action and unlike the villain who takes negative action.

As it almost always works out in the stories, the hero will come out on top. However, this mentality must be developed in the small incidents in our lives so that when the big trouble comes we will automatically take the role of the hero. If we take the role of either the victim or the villain we will hurt either ourselves or others or both.

My dad is a wise man.