Claire Bennet vs Samantha LaRusso: Two Teenage Heroes, Two Completely Different Battles

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 Two teenage girls. Two hugely popular television franchises. Two very different ideas of what it means to survive. Claire Bennet from Heroes and Samantha LaRusso from Cobra Kai may come from completely different worlds, but their stories share more DNA than it first appears. Claire is the cheerleader who discovers that her body can regenerate from almost any injury. Sam is the daughter of Daniel LaRusso, raised in the shadow of one of cinema and television’s most recognizable martial-arts legacies. One possesses an extraordinary supernatural ability. The other has to survive with nothing more than training, determination, family support and her own ability to overcome fear. That difference makes their comparison fascinating. Claire Bennet: The Girl Who Was Never Allowed to Be Normal When Heroes introduced Claire Bennet, she initially looked like an ordinary American teenager. She was a cheerleader. She worried about school, relationships, popularity and her family. Then she dis...

The ABC's Of A Great Life: "T" Is For Truth

 Now, I am not one of those who will tell you that to have a great life, you have to tell the whole truth, nothing but the truth, all day and every day, so help you, God. That's flat-out impossible and not a little bit wrong. The little white lies that allow us to avoid hurting one another, the ability to leave out parts of an otherwise honest assessment that are irrelevant and potentially destructive, and the ability to know something genuine and not say anything at all, because it is neither our business nor our place to do so, are vital skills that help create a great life, rather than preclude it. Instead, truth, in this case, means knowing what is good and honest and trustworthy about yourself and your life.


It knows what is authentic for you, what upholds your integrity, and diminishes it. It understands what is true for you in any situation. It also understands that this may not be true for anyone involved in the same case - and that this variance in truth is both expected and valid. It is about not lying to yourself (and you'll know when you do if you allow yourself to look hard enough). It is about knowing when it is right to take a stand on an issue of importance to you and when it is better to compromise or give in to preserve the peace or support another's a success. It is about grasping the truth that love is the foundation of the Universe and that all else is either decoration or distraction - and knowing when you're acting in denial of this reality. How are you living in truth? How are you in denial of it? What can you do to center your life more firmly around truth, integrity, and authenticity? Truth is not always easy, especially when we are so good at justification and otherwise diminishing cognitive dissonance (the jarring tension between how we act and what we know to be right) in our lives. But the truth is worth it, and we cannot lead lives of greatness without it. Excellence depends on fact and reality, greatness. Neither exists where the other fails.

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