Would You Rather be Superhuman or have a Superpower?
Sometimes physical strength is overrated
Recently my daughter complimented me (gasp) on having the superpower of actually following through when I have an idea or say I’m going to do something.
It doesn’t seem like such a powerful thing, but anything a millennial considers cool is significant since they’re often a tough crowd to impress.
But it got me thinking:
Why is it so hard to have ideas or ambitions, make plans, carry them out or put them into motion? I know from plenty of life experience this is absolutely the case.
That said, if I were to choose a truly worthy superpower, aside from the obvious of being able to become invisible, mind-read, or bulletproof, I would prefer some form of emotional, cognitive type power that works instantly.
Being able to genuinely understand someone else’s point of view, why they choose to make the choices they’re making, then being able to shift their thinking or change their mind for the better, (depending on the situation) would be incredibly useful and insightful.
Sounds corny, but the phrase “Walking in someone else’s shoes” would take on a whole new meaning.
Potentially, this kind of powerful insight could help give clarity to almost any social situation. It might even help make us more well informed and compassionate or inspire a clearer pathway of how to respond and react so things could be managed less divisively and more civilly.
We’ve all seen how empathy and awareness are essential in so many classic situations, like during a peaceful protest, when driving and someone cuts us off, when obnoxious teens choose bullying behavior when no one’s looking, or when your partner says something completely unrelated to the conversation at hand.
But tell me you wouldn’t want to know how Putin feels as he continues to wage war and finds himself growing unpopular not only in his own country, but throughout world, or be in the courtroom when a fugitive finally gets caught for evading capture for decades, or how it feels to be behind the armored truck that loses its load, then you have to decide whether to keep the money or not.
People crave insight and desire closure when it comes to positive and bad actions.
It’s not the perfect superpower, but it could go a long way to being more calm and patient when frequently we choose to be reactive and intolerant instead.
Sure, invisibility would be fun for a while, but honestly, most people would figure out you’ve spied on them, and you probably already know when people are talking behind your back.
Historically superpowers are generally used for good versus evil, and how could we not use more of that right now and for always?
We all have our unique superpowers, but the key is to utilize them in the best possible way — like they do in comic books or in every Marvel superhero film.
Whether it’s helping to set an excellent example of selfless action or by not wasting an impactful moment when a life lesson could be learned, whatever it is, hopefully, you’re putting your special superpower to relevant, good use.
