Who doesn’t love a superhero?

Superheroes have strengths and powers which they use to overcome evil and save the day.

I have spent the last 129 days flexing muscles I didn’t know I had, battling forces new to me, and triumphing over various foes that had my demise in their sights.

Am I a superhero?

We are complex creations, for sure. Miraculous and marvellous. 

Fearfully and wonderfully made.

We are a carefully balanced tower of Jenga bricks, sometimes.

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune can easily unbalance us.

The world is not always a caring place, alas.

We often have to take arms against the seas of troubles that berate our gentle shores.

For some of us, the calling is to a fight that will change the world.

For most of us, the calling is to a battlefield much more local.

Ourselves.

Re-balance the Jenga tower. Re-align the blocks.

To change ourselves is an impressive thing.

An onerous task.

Examples:

 

• Escaping addiction

• Confronting emotions

• Overcoming mental illness

• Dealing with loss

• Coping with loneliness

• Changing behaviour patterns

• Challenging pre-established beliefs

Each of these requires much application.

Which superpowers are required?

The first is awareness, super-vision. 

Then bravery and commitment.

Egos have to be laid down and pain endured.

Forgiveness and acceptance are worthy allies to the affray.

Patience and relentless fortitude because Rome was not built in a day.

In this arena of demolition and reconstruction, I often find my logical self pitched against its vastly stronger emotional counterpart, and both are referencing a database of inaccurate and outdated ‘facts’.

I need to box clever. I need to be wily.

Then comes the paradox of best serving oneself by serving others.

On the surface, it is oxymoronic.

If I want to be the best me, then I must help someone else be their best.

If I want to improve my lot, I start by improving someone else’s.

What is the point of being a superhero if I only save myself?

To not be in service to others is to misunderstand my complete makeup.

I’m not just in the world; I am a part of the world. 

 

When I give a leg up to another, I also feel the boost. We are connected.

A famous real-life superhero summed all the superpowers up in a single word:

Love.

Defined as follows:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

Yes, I am a superhero, and my superpowers are getting stronger daily.

You are a superhero too.