(photo: chess-club.belmontes.schools.pwcs.edu)
Recently I discovered something about superheroes. It’s probably obvious to you. I never thought about it before.
Haven’t you noticed, superheroes nearly always go looking for bad guys? They never sit around waiting for someone to call them and say “There’s a bad guy here.” If they did, what would happen?
Well, assuming they were a brand new superhero, nobody would know them at all. No one would think to call “Sand Animator” unless they had seen her in action. Clearly, she has to go out and show people what she can do first.
It doesn’t matter how powerful the superhero is. Even if they have the power to do turn bad people into good people, if no one knows about them, no one will call them. Obvious, right?
And yet when I was a young man, I couldn’t understand why nobody cared about my abilities. I knew I could do special things. And yet I remained unknown and virtually unable to share my work for years.
I had to learn the hard way. You won’t be treated special because you’re special. You’ll be treated special because you found the people that needed you.
I think a lot of people don’t even know they have a superpower. They don’t think what they can do is all that special. Some of them don’t even think they can do anything.
Another way to say that is, “Many people have no idea who needs them.” What a shocking idea. In order to do something only you can do, you must know who needs you.
It’s good to think about our “abilities” this way. It takes the ego out of it. We’re not who we are because of what we can do, we’re who we are because of what we can do for others.
I’m not suggesting our lives are to be lived for other people. What I’m saying is that if we desire to truly shine, we can only do it if we consider who will be illuminated and what the light will show them. That makes the choice of when to be super a better one.
What’s your superpower? Who needs it? Have you let them know you’re here to help?