Everyday superheroes don’t wear capes

Courthouse work presents a window on humanity’s ability to overcome adversity

When I walk down the street, go to the market, or go to work, I know that I walk among superheroes, some of the strongest people on Earth.

I am not talking about Superman in disguise as Clark Kent or Wonder Woman as Diana Prince. I am talking about the stranger you see, about a family member, a friend, a work colleague or a neighbour. I am talking about a person with inner strength to overcome adversity or a tragic event just to live a normal day. Their mental strength and resilience is more powerful than a bodybuilder working out in a gym, pumping weights.

For the past 17 years, I have worked at a courthouse. I have worked on cases and trials ranging from fraud to the most heinous murders in our region. In between, there have been domestic assaults, sexual assaults, abuse of children and the elderly. There have been deaths and injuries due to impaired driving and accidents. I have witnessed and heard the pain of victims and those left behind. As a volunteer, and in my personal life, I have also witnessed those struggling with mental health illnesses, depression and drug and alcohol addiction.

But I have also seen the strength and resilience in people who have overcome adversity or the most unimaginable and tragic event just to live one more normal day that many people take for granted.

Imagine fighting a battle with all your might and strength on a daily basis but no one, or maybe only a few people, can see it. There are many people in our community who suffer mental health illness, such as depression and anxiety, and struggle daily just to get out of bed and go to work or school.

Imagine you are a single mother of toddlers, escaping an abusive relationship in the middle of the night, not knowing what the future holds but having the strength to protect yourself and your children. You still have to make sure the children are fed, clothed and have a bed to sleep in while at the same time trying to recover yourself. It is the inner strength and resilience of that mother to carry on.

Imagine being a victim of a heinous crime and you have to relive that event in court in front of the one who caused you the pain. You need inner strength and resilience to testify with so much suffering and anguish in you.

Consider the strength of the person who kicks a drug addiction after many years of living with the habit. Or someone recovering from an injury or an illness.

The road to recovery or trying to live a normal life is long and difficult. Sometimes, when life hits you hard, you want the whole world to stop and feel it with you. But that is not possible, it is a personal journey. Only those who have faced similar circumstances can truly feel what you are going through. Sometimes that journey is too difficult to continue on by yourself. That is OK. We all need help in our lives.

Inner strength and resilience in a person is very powerful, especially when overcoming adversity or a tragic event. It helps you to carry on, to see a sunrise in the morning, to go to work, to raise children or to buy groceries.

The world is full of superheroes, but the strongest ones do not wear capes or fly, they have overcome the worst just to live through a normal day of life.