Not All Heroes Wear Capes

This morning someone messaged me and said, “Not all heroes wear capes. Some of them wear coffee stains.”

And listen… I felt that. Deep in my soul.

Because if you saw me right now? You’d know that’s not just a quote—it’s my current outfit.

Some people wake up looking like they’re ready to conquer the world. Me? I wake up looking like the world already ran me over, twice, then reversed to make sure. Hair like I fought a pillow in my sleep and lost. Shirt already stained with yesterday’s ambition and this morning’s espresso. And yet… I show up. We show up.

Let’s talk about those kinds of heroes.

The ones who show up to interviews with laptops held together by duct tape, confidence held together by prayer, and a LinkedIn profile that’s been “open to work” longer than their last relationship lasted.

The ones who juggle job searches while packing lunches, wiping noses, charging Chromebooks, and pretending they remember 5th grade math. Spoiler: we do not remember 5th grade math.

The ones who smile on Zoom with a “Hi there!” even when they’ve been ghosted more times than a haunted house in October.

The ones who still believe in second chances. Third chances. Thirty-seventh chances.

(Yes, that number again. I told y’all—it’s sacred.)

These are the people who pour coffee into mugs that say “World’s Okayest Employee” while staring at job portals that demand ten years of experience for an entry-level role that pays in “exposure.”

They are battle-worn. Hope-tired. And still—still—they press “apply” one more time.

Some of these heroes have been laid off quietly, let go by people who used phrases like “strategic restructuring” and “we’re going in a different direction.”

(Which, if we’re honest, is corporate for: “We made bad decisions but you’re the one paying for them.”)

And yet… they didn’t rage quit life.

They took the hit. They processed the shock. And they got back up.

Sometimes in tears. Sometimes in sarcasm. Sometimes in the same pajama pants from Tuesday.

But they got back up.

And maybe they’re not saving cities or wearing spandex.

But they’re saving dinner with dollar-store creativity and leftover rice.

They’re saving kids’ self-esteem during hard times.

They’re saving their own sanity with coffee and comedy and prayer and a community of strangers on LinkedIn who somehow feel like family.

So yeah. Not all heroes wear capes.

Some of them wear hope like armor.

They wear coffee stains like battle scars.

And they carry on—not because it’s easy, but because quitting isn’t in their DNA.

To every job seeker, every parent, every caregiver, every soul who’s still trying in a world that keeps handing out “no’s”—

You are the reason I write.

You are the reason I believe.

You are the hero.

Coffee stains and all.