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Off My Mind: Should Superheroes Ever Quit?

Fighting evil is a never-ending battle but how long can heroes keep it up?

Heroes by nature, give it their all. They are driven by their unselfish desire to do their best. Their number one goal is to make the world a better place and to make it safe for the innocent. Heroes spend their time training to meet take on incredible obstacles and always manage to beat the odds.

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Because fighting evil is a never-ending battle, how long can they truly keep it up? As heroes, are they expected to constantly continue to fight every single day, knowing their job will never come to an end? They are not in it for the fame or glory but how long can they keep taking the punches to try to do what they believe in?

== TEASER ==

Again, by the nature and essence of a superhero, there is no giving up. They strongly and absolutely believe in what they are doing. As good as they may be, they may often find themselves alone in the fight. There may be new heroes popping up each day but for every new hero or problem, a half dozen new ones show up as well.

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Heroes rarely get a moment's rest. They can't afford the luxury of going on vacation. Some might say they are obsessive compulsive but they know a lot is riding on what they do. Sure they aren't the only ones capable of doing the job but there never seems to be enough help when it comes down to it. When they're good at what they do and when they truly believe in it, it's hard for them to hold back. Regardless what a hero might be doing in their spare time, if the call goes out, if they are needed, they will drop what they are doing in order to be a hero.

But what happens to their personal life? Many superheroes have had to constantly make sacrifices. They've lost family and loved ones in the process. That might serve to make them work harder as a hero. If they fail at personal relationships or civilian jobs, they may adopt the view that being a superhero is the only thing they're really good at. That is great for the countless innocent civilians that often fall prey to the villains and people get a kick out of seeing their heroes in action, but being on duty all the time isn't healthy. What happens if the hero gets frustrated or tired of all the hassles and responsibilities while they don't necessarily get any thanks?

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Heroes shouldn't have to do it all by themselves. There should be others that could fight by their side or take over to allow them to take a vacation to a tropical island. That just never really seems to happen. Something always pulls the hero back in. If some tragedy should occur while the hero was away, the blame would fall on their shoulder.

If heroes don't ever get time away, they become disillusioned. They may lose the desire to continue what they do. The essence of a hero says they can never call it quits. But there may come a time when enough is enough. Should that ever happen, hopefully there will be someone around to take their place. Otherwise that would mean the villains win.

(Note: I intentionally left out the typical "___ No More" images. You're welcome.)