If you could pick any super power, what would it be? I think this question opens us up to a deeper understanding of what could do if we simply allowed ourselves to be more completely ourselves.
SUPER STRENGTH:
Maybe you wish you had super strength. If only you could lift cars and boats and tractors with one hand, then maybe you could do some amazing things in the world. What is important to remember is that the strength to do the work is only half of the process, and its the lesser half. The harder and more important part is having the strength to choose to help. Wanting to help, then choosing not to because you are not rich enough or smart enough or strong enough, is a common place we all find ourselves at some point. Real strength is being willing to get involved and be whatever help we can be. Single handedly carrying the entire problem for someone else is not truly helpful for two reasons. First, its not realistic. If you limit your involvement to problems that you can handle all by yourself, then you will be missing the opportunity to be a part of many more solutions. One person can only do so much, and if you stick to just what you can do by yourself, then you will be only do small things for very few people throughout your life. Secondly, if you think that you alone can solve someone else's problem or need, then you don't understand how humans work. We do not progress and move into greater stability because we wake up one day and find some extra money, or a new car, or the answer key to a test. Easy and quick solutions do not produce stable and productive progress. When you step into someones life and grant them a genie size wish, you rob them of their ownership and involvement in their own success. If you want to make a real difference, then leave others room to help too. Share the joy of progress for those you help, and of philanthropy for those who can help, with as many people as possible to create a stable and long lasting difference.
The other reason why you may have chosen super strength is because you wish you weren't so weak and helpless. Perhaps people have power over you, or you feel like other people determine your life for you; and if you were stronger then maybe you could have some ownership of your life. First of all, I totally understand. I want to point out that if you think people have power over you now, just wait until you become super useful with your super strength. What starts as respect and admiration will quickly become contracts, mandated labor, and expectations. Fame, publicity, and celebrity are not respect. Many of the people you see in the lime light are so tightly owned by the producers and advertisers they represent that they have almost no choice in their schedule, purchases or even people they spend time with. Celebrity is a commodity, and you must be willing to give yourself away to someone else, who will then put you on a shelf they own, and then sell you for their own profits. Do not confuse strength of body and strength of heart. Your convictions and passions and dreams will not be realized no matter how much you can lift if you can never learn to lift yourself. Do not confuse respect with self-respect. If you are tired of other people putting you down, then start with yourself. With a strong sense of self-respect, you can never be disrespected. What could anyone say to drag you down when you have already build a strong self? How heavy are the words of fools? They become feathers in the wind, and you have gained Super Strength.
TO FLY
If you wished to fly then perhaps you are wishing for a different perspective. You believe that if you could just be in a different place then you could see what is missing and perhaps then be a real hero. Your ability to see things differently is already alive and inside of you. You already do see things differently. Why are you more willing to fly around the world then to simply share what is already in your heart? Do not confuse altitude with attitude. You will never fly higher then your own imagination, and if you keep limiting yourself as you wait for your big chance then you have already missed chance after chance. Perhaps the real reason why you want to fly is because you wish you could escape. Its important to acknowledge this if it's you: If you were given the chance for a Super Power, you would ask for Super Retreat. You imagine flying by yourself don't you? Away from everybody, looking down at all those people. It would probably be the first time you weren't looking up at them. If you need to get away, to find a place to be alone for a while then do that. Maybe you don't like being alone, and there in lies the conflict. If you want to fly away, but are not willing to take a single step, then you would be just as shackled no matter how fast or far you could fly. Be free now. If you would fly 1,000 miles if you could, start by walking 100 feet. You will be amazed how little there is to be afraid of, and how liberating a change in perspective can be.
Whatever super power you would wish for, it is often born from a marriage of your passions and what paralyzes you. One partner is who you were born to be, and the other is what you are afraid of. For reasons I can not understand, most of us and certainly me, were each nurtured to fear what we are born to do. Some of us are lucky to be in environments where we train daily through mentorship and love and encouragement to trust our strength and step through our fear. If you are like me, then every day is a terrifying process of pealing the onion back deeper and deeper waiting to finally find the proof that I really don't belong or have any potential. Later in my life, I was given some incredible friends and mentors who taught me to use this very important idea as I searched to find myself:
Never let fear drive you.
So I encourage you to realize the super power you already have. The reason you can't wield it yet is because you have not mastered the art of self-respect, and the discipline of walking into your fears.
So if you could choose any super power, what would it be? I used to wish for a healers touch, to wave my hand over injury or illness and repair it with my super power. As a child, I wished for this super power because I watched my mom suffer through injury and sickness as long as I knew her. After she died, all I wanted to was to fly away. I wanted to be somewhere else where things didn't hurt, and maybe I could start life over. My friends at the time, Lito and Tara, gave me the courage to pursue an education in medicine. I still dream of having a super power, because I still dream of doing more. But now, my dream is not a reflection of my fear any more. Now my dreams are my potential. The super hero I want to be, and who I am learning to be, is me.