A friend uses the phrase “Superpower” when he talks about people. I love it. He often integrates the “superpower” into their name so everyone is aware of their particular specialty. For example, he has Chef B, Funny Man, and my husband is “Ben.com.”
I started looking at people in terms of their superpowers, too. I loved the idea of focusing on what people are naturally great at.
As I’ve done some thinking on this subject, I don’t think you can actually choose your superpower – I know I didn’t. If I could choose, I’d pick the superpower of being really funny or really smart. Unfortunately, I can count on one hand the times my “witty” comments have made people burst into laughter, and alcohol was almost always involved. I always dreamed of being “whip smart” (the phrase my Mom used in describing the smartest of her honors students). Smart and funny often come as a package deal, but that was not the deck dealt to me.
However, I do happen to have a very nice superpower – ALL superpowers are special in their own way. My superpower is that I see the world very simply. I don’t create or look for deep meaning or drama in things, people or situations. This helps me to be very positive and optimistic – I usually see the best in everyone and rarely worry about “worst-case scenarios.”
I’ve known my optimistic nature was “something special” since I was a kid. (I only recently dubbed it as my “superpower.”) I remember being very young and a teacher accusing me of “kissing up to her.” It was so sad for me as a little girl to be insulted when I was just genuinely interested in what she was saying. I’ll never forget teachers in high school telling me to “stop smiling” or the time an ex-boyfriend told me “it must be so nice to live inside that head.”
Now to the main point of this post: I want to be a great writer and blogger who regularly makes women think. I wan to help light a fire in women by being part of the team that builds MeaningfulWomen.com into an important site for us women.
So, I intend to use my superpower – my ability to see the world simply, positively and optimistically – and be a voice of encouragement, empowerment, action and engagement.
I’ll leave you with a quote and a question. One of my all-time favorite quotes is by Ralph Waldo Emmerson: “What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.“
I believe all of us have a superpower as awesome as Emmerson’s ability to write and make us think. What’s your superpower? Are you doing everything you can to share it with the world? Please do, it will make the world a better place!
Oh, and if your superpower is writing or telling stories, please share on MeaningfulWomen.com!
Click here to see more articles on MeaningfulWomen.com by Ellen Padnos.
Ellen Padnos lives in Manhattan Beach, CA with her husband, Ben, her children Anthony (4), and Annie (1), and her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Lola. You can also follow her on Twitter (@ellenpadnos).
Great article Ellen! You should be proud of your superpower. It is great for the world to have you sharing your gifts. We can use more voices of encouragement, empowerment, action and engagement.
There was a time, where I felt invisible almost like my personality was my superpower. I felt that within me, or perhaps a part of me, was this strong sense that I was destined for something great. How to get to that “something great” has always been the blindsight. I believe, that we each come with one gift, born from our mother earth, and destined into this world with something so unique about each and every one of us, it can carry us through our entire existence. The challenge, for many and myself included is finding that gift-that superpower and having the humility to recognize and accept it. It may not be the most ideal or fantasy driven power-it simply may be just having the ability to love others openly without judgement, to climb the highest mountain in the world, or to be writer-like mine. How ever, we discover this beauty that mother earth has bestowed us with is something to be cherished and honoured. Sometimes, the strength of a superpower is the smallest peak and the strength of a gift is how we carry it and let it lead our lives.