Everyday courage: being a Lion in everyday life

I just finished reading the book about Alexei Navalnj, as you know, Vladimir Putin's greatest opponent, assassinated in prison on 16 February 2024. I thought of him as a true hero: these are people who have the 'courage of the lions', of their convictions, of their values which they do not renounce, extraordinary people who have been consumed in the name of their ideals, have been in prison or killed. Must we therefore follow the same fate, which, heroic as it may be, is certainly not very palatable? I am convinced that everyone - except psychopaths and chronic narcissists - are potentially Lions. Not only that: if we look closely, there are thousands of Lions all around us, perhaps we ourselves are already Lions, without knowing it.

A Lion is the middle-aged man who loses his job, and therefore his identity, but has the strength to get back into the game, willing to start from scratch, with dignity, in order to make it. A Lioness is the lonely woman, widowed or divorced, who with a strong sense of responsibility manages to go on day after day to offer a better future to her children. A Lion is the young man who, despite an unemployment rate that makes your wrists quiver, struggles to get a decent job, continues to study or creates a company or a start-up. A Lion is the worker who breaks his back for a decent salary, working at night, taking the same tram for 30 years at 5am. He is a lioness the cleaning lady who, working with dignity before 8am and after 8pm, keeps our offices clean and tidy. A lion is the immigrant from a distant country, who with decorum performs modest tasks or duties even though he may be a lawyer or teacher, sending his family everything he earns. A Lion is the child adopted because abandoned or the child of a divorced couple who manages not to lose faith in adults, in their love, in Life. A Lion is the farmer who works from dawn to dusk. Lions are the priest or the nun who help the dispossessed, the forgotten, the invisible. Lions are the doctor, the professor, the judge, the nurse, the policeman who, often with modest salaries, look after the health, safety or education of others. A Lion is the entrepreneur who, amidst a thousand bureaucratic harassments or abuses by the mafias, keeps his company going and offers a job to those who deserve it. A Lion is the person who, struck by a terrible event, does his utmost to help people who have had a similar fate, teaching them that even hard times can be overcome. A Lion is the journalist or artist who uses his art and knowledge to tell, to denounce, to serve, to hearten. A Lion is he who protects our environment, our artistic treasures from unscrupulous speculators. A Lion is the pensioner who, after 40 years of work, takes a starvation pension, but lives with dignity and strives to be a grandfather to his grandchildren. He is a Lion who, discriminated against on the basis of sexual, religious, racial or political preference, nevertheless walks with his head held high and continues with conviction on his own path, without cancelling his dignity and identity. He is a Lion who does not accept exploiters, mafia, corruption, cheating, rigged cards to the detriment of the deserving. He is a Lion who dedicates his time to helping as a volunteer the abandoned elderly, exploited women, forgotten children, prisoners, prostitutes, lonely, homeless and hopeless people.

The time has come to change our model of heroism. So that being a Lion does not become a mythical category reserved for comic book super-heroes or limited to a few legendary figures or, worse, ridiculous peacocks who spend their days in front of mirrors or in the spotlight.

Being Lions becomes our way of being: we do not need heroic acts but daily dignity, not to accept injustice as if it were a normal thing. Our work then becomes not a mere occupation but our deepest and most authentic identity. I am convinced that you too are a Lion or will become one in 2025.

Let us not forget: 'Walk tall or don't walk at all'. My best wishes to you and your families, knowing that the most important thing - even if we have lost our innocence - remains to continue to have faith and hope for a better future.