Misusing the words "brave" and "heroes"

Why are handicapped children called "brave"? They have what they have and they live life the best they can. There's not much else they can do.

Why are police officers/firemen/soldiers, those who are doing what they're being paid for, called "heroes"? They are doing their job, for which they're being paid for. They knew what they were getting into when they started their training for these jobs.

Both these words should be reserved for people who actually do something, and do that something without any kind of reward or without any kind of expectation from them.
We're getting lazy, we're using the wrong words to describe people or their actions.