hero, heroine, or damsel in distress?

i depend highly on my body to support me.
i do not like needing others to carry things for me; i despise the way my body becomes weak when i am sick; i love the feeling of my own strength when i lift something others struggle with; i feel like i am melting and degenerating by the moment when i am forced into inactivity for any length of time.

i sometimes wish i were not small and female, so that if occasion ever arose for a heroic act, i could meet the challenge. that may sound appauling to many feminists, but i am not naive enough to believe that there aren't limits to what the female body can do.. albeit there are many types of heroic acts that do not involve physical strength.

b, missa, and i just saw 'the day after tomorrow' in theaters, so i suppose the dramatic/apocalyptic/'triumph of man story' just has me wishing that something epic should be about to begin.