Are You a Hero or a Villain?

There is a thin line that separates a hero from a villain!

They both make hard choices in life and in the end, it doesn't really matter what side you're with - it's how you lived through the decisions that you've made.

Heroes may also become Villains at some point in their lives. And they can be both at the same time in the eyes of one person.

Every hero has a villain inside them wanting to come out and every villain has a hero inside them waiting to be seen.

Heroes and Villains do not choose their path with a blind eye. They act on impulse, they act on circumstances, they act on principles, on values, on beliefs, on instinct.

BUT THEY ACT.

This is the thing that separates them from the mere spectators and the people that they save or terrorize.

This is what separates Superman and Luthor from the rest of the crowd in Metropolis; The Batman and the Joker from Gotham City's people.

They don't just stay in the sidelights and watch. They take action. And these actions keeps everything in motion. Changing everything. Good or Bad.

Heroes and Villains do not need super powers or high tech gadgets to become one. They just need to ACT. 

To take INITIATIVE.

When I was in college, I used to hang out with friends till midnight just talking about anything or goofing around almost everyday.

We don't do the crazy stuffs like drinking booze, or anything.. heck we don't even smoke and join gangs or fraternities (which is pretty rampant in those days).

We were just the noisy, wacky, annoying and lazy bunch that tends to drive the neighborhood mad (in a good way).

Our favorite place to hangout then was either inside the Jeepney of 'Onad', my friend Eric's older brother or just the bench right in front of our Barangay Captain's house.

We don't have money to go to those party places. We just cap the night with a hot lugaw or pandesal and a cold bottle of Coke and that's it. - solve!

One night while we were hanging around inside Onad's Jeepney, a notorious drug addict, gangster, thief and suspected murderer who lives in our Barangay was ganged up by another rival gang.

We all saw everything because we were just only about 15 feet away from where it happened.

After about less than a minute of brawling he was left behind and was able to walk until he collapses just in front of the Jeepney where we are in.

A lot of people saw these, they all went out of their houses and looked on.

I was studying nursing then at Emilio Aguinaldo College and my nursing instinct told me to come out and help this person.

My friends tried to stopped me from coming out - not because it's dangerous but because in their minds they wanted him to die because that person is known as a human plague in our place, a stupid virus that needs to be eradicated.

In my mind, I wanted that too. But I am a nursing student and I know that in my heart that I can help that person because of what I've learned in school. Maybe because I thought I have the power to do so (not the willingness though). But as Ben Parker told Peter Parker in the movie Spiderman... "with power comes responsibilities."

So I went out and made my nursing assessment.. he received numerous stab wounds so i ripped his clothes off and put pressure on the most critical wounds.

My friends saw what I was doing, they all came out of the Jeepney and helped me in putting pressure on the other wounds to stop the bleeding. I know that they didn't want to, but they did, because I was their friend and we stick together.

Our Barangay Captain then finally asked for some of his men to get a tricycle and bring the wounded menace to the nearest hospital.

We did not receive any praises that night for what I did, only stone-cold silence from the people around us. I went home with blood on my hands and my shirt. And the confusion that if what I did was right or wrong.

My praise came a few weeks after when I saw the person I helped that night who is now well and good. We crossed path and he said his thanks. I was pretty much pleased with what I did but not until the following day and the days to come.

Because that was the start of our Barangay's nightly unstoppable gang wars and street rumbles - all courtesy of the person who thanked me for helping him that night. There was never a silent night after that.

Some of the people who knew what happened that night started blaming me and my friends and the Barangay for helping him live.

The gang wars only stopped when a policeman finally put a bullet on the body of that person.

His death brought a lasting peace in our place. The gangs laid low and we were able to hang out once again until midnight.

Up until now, I still don't know if what I did that night was right or wrong.

I ACTED and the world I knew CHANGED.

In the end, what I did didn't matter... but it is how I lived through the decision I made.