Super Powers – We All Have Them

If I could choose my super power it would definitely be polyglotism – without the need for Duolingo. In reality my super powers are parallel parking and basic navigation. I am blessed with the ability to parallel park in any space that’s the size of whatever car I’m driving. And I have a superb sense of direction.

I asked a friend recently what her super power was and she said that she is super at “living while poor.” She grew up in a military family that struggled financially and once her father left the Army, he went to college and worked full-time. Her mother had two jobs, and their one luxury was books. Her mother allowed my friend and her brother to buy books. Eventually, they could afford a house and college (with loans) but S. is still extremely frugal. She makes no spontaneous purchases and she can squeeze a lot out of $20 – like three meals and a new t-shirt. It’s her super power.

I have another friend – a pastor – who spent a couple of years as a young adult who was incarcerated. He is deeply ashamed of this and is very careful to entrust that information with just a handful of people outside his family. And yet, this is his super power. That experience changed his life for the better to the point that he credits his prison time as the seminal event of his call to professional ministry. He has a wisdom that changes the lives of other people who might be where he once was.

Sometimes we live with personal shame and yet it’s possible that the cause of our shame is actually our super power.

Did you have alcoholic parents? Did you lose your parents at a young age? Have you lost a child to gun violence? Are you in recovery? Are you a housefire survivor? Did your family get evicted? Did you grow up in foster care? Were you raised by wolves?

My friends – yes, you need therapy – and after your wounds have turned into scars, those scars are your super power. Use them to make the world better.

Did you win the genetic lottery? Do you have a genius IQ? Do you have a genius EQ? Can you walk on your hands? Can you intuitively take apart a car engine?

My friends – yes, you probably need therapy too – and after you get over yourself, realize that those gifts are your super power. Use them to make the world better.

Have a wonderful Monday.