What’s your superpower?

Everyone has one. I have many. For instance, when I was a kid I could tell the difference between first-run TV shows and reruns by the audio alone. That is a completely useless superpower, unless the fate of the world depends on whether this is a very special The Facts of Life, or if it’s just a regular one that you’ve already seen.

I currently have a fairly helpful superpower, albeit limited in its scope. I can catch things with Mr. Miyagi-like speed and accuracy. There’s a catch (a catch to my catching stuff): this superpower only surfaces when I’m the reason the thing is falling in the first place. If I start to knock something over or drop something, let’s just say that Daniel-san would be hard-pressed to outdo me.

But if you throw something my way, even if you warn me, it’s likely to just smack me in the face and hit the ground.

Original on flickr.com

But I think my favorite superpower – and my most infuriating – is this: I have literally infinite free will to do whatever I want to do, whenever I want to do it. My free will is only constrained by the flow of time and my willingness to face the consequences of my actions.

I can fly. It’s just for very short distances, and I choose not too really flex free will on this one, because the consequence (e.g. becoming sidewalk art) is one I’m not willing to accept.

But I can do it. I can also quit my job, I can move, I can end any relationship (friend, family, romantic), I can become a monk, I can go back to school, I can quit school, I can be a nomad. I can do whatever I want.

It’s liberating to have infinite freedom to exercise my free will.

But I said it was infuriating, too.

It’s infuriating because it means when I’m dissatisfied with my situation, I am choosing to remain in it. I am choosing status quo because I am unwilling to face the consequences of changing it. I have a ridiculously effective, unstoppable superpower, and when I keep it holstered, it’s often because I’m simply scared to use it.

Here’s the thing, though: YOU have this superpower too. Everyone does.

What’s the difference between Superman and Clark Kent? Superman is unabashedly super in comparison to Earthlings. He’s buff. He can literally fly, he can stop bullets, he has x-ray vision.

But what’s funny, is that Clark Kent can do all of that, too. However, he disguises himself as the rest of us.  Meek, timid, puny. Denying that he’s any different than the rest of the world. Just a farm boy. Just a reporter.  “Just”.

As with every superhero story, there’s a moment where the hero recognizes that he’s different, and with that difference, he has a responsibility to do something great.

Has that moment hit you yet?

Have you realized that your difference is that you have the ability to tap into your own infinite free will?

Have you realized that your responsibility is to take that free will, push past imagined consequences, and do something great?

If you haven’t had that realization in your life yet, let this be that moment.