Pull Out Your Superpower

 

As we struggle to emerge from these long months of pandemic, it can be challenging to find the strength to keep going. It’s not just the constantly shifting COVID protocols, there’s our work situations, our finances, our living conditions, which for many of us keep changing and morphing. Sometimes into non-existence. And there are the continual stresses of our family life, as kids do (or don’t) make it to school, whether online or in person, and it’s hard to have any kind of stable routine, whether you have 5 children, none, or are single.

Factor in the climate crises – hot/cold/fires/hurricanes/floods – and the political/social chaos pretty much everywhere in the world, and it’s enough to make even the strongest among us want to crawl down to the bottom of the bed under the covers and stay there until it’s all over. Which is, at this rate, highly unlikely . . .

So pull out your Superpower. Yeah, right, uh-huh. As if leaping tall buildings in a single bound or throwing a punch of white light could do anything for you. Ah, but that’s not what a Superpower is necessarily. A Superpower can be – well, let me give you an example by way of explanation.

Sebbie Hall, 17, has a rare chromosome anomaly, which at one time looked like it would make it impossible for him to ever walk or talk. Despite Sebbie’s learning difficulties, among which is a difficulty in finding words, he’s a normal English teen in many ways. Disappointed that his good friend couldn’t communicate with him as the pandemic started, Sebbie wanted to give his friend his own iPad. Sebbie’s Mom had a better idea: why not raise money so his friend, and others like him, could get what they needed during these rough times.

But how? Sebbie’s not a celebrity, doesn’t have a unique musical or another such talent, and is differently-abled - which often makes approaching others dicey. But then Sebbie thought “I can be kind,” and to date, has performed over 1,600 acts of kindness, from walking neighbors’ pets to washing cars, handing out PPE, giving coats to the homeless, and even collecting unwanted Halloween pumpkins so they could be turned into soup and pies for the needy. This, Sebbie declared, was his Superpower: kindness. With it, Sebbie has raised via Crowdfunding approximately $39,000 with which to help others in need.

What’s your Superpower? I know what mine is: appreciation. Once I stumbled into the enormous power of appreciation and realized I could appreciate something, somewhere, at any time and any place, regardless of what was going on in my life, I had it. Appreciation is most definitely my Superpower. Nope, I can’t leap over tall buildings with it, but I can appreciate tall buildings and those who do leap. Turning to appreciation no matter what has been my saving grace, and appreciating others purposefully has brought many a smile to many a face.

How about you? What Superpower might you claim as your own? You may surprise yourself with what comes up for you, and then with just how wonderful claiming -  and using - your Superpower can be.

How to Rock the Boat – Safely – Episode 24

Have you ever been scared to death of making a change, no matter how much you wanted it, because – heck – what if it didn’t work out? What if it made things worse? Yikes! A valid fear, for sure, but one that you don’t need to carry around with you. In this podcast, you’ll discover a powerful yet easy way to make those changes you want without endangering all that you care about.

Check out this latest episode!

Quit Rescuing, Start Empowering! – Episode 23

You are so over being the go-to person for everyone in your life: at work, at home, wherever. How can you free yourself of their demands without being a jerk? Great question! In this podcast, you’ll explore how to do just that in three easy steps that allow you to genuinely support your peeps without doing it all for them.

 

Check out this latest episode!

The Problem Isn’t The Problem

 

The problem isn’t the problem. You read that correctly. Really. The problem isn’t the problem: the problem is when we forget to focus on the solution.

 

Take Ben Lovell, for example, a 42-year-old Englishman whose right leg was amputated due to a life-threatening blood clot in 2017. He went through it all: suicidal thoughts, depression, PTSD, the works. And then Ben figured out it wasn’t serving him to focus on the problem, namely lack of leg and his inability to walk for more than 20 minutes at a time.

 

So Ben started working on the solution. For him, it was two-fold. First, Ben created AmpCamp, a fitness boot camp for fellow amputees, which given that prior to his amputation, Ben’s fitness consisted mainly of getting off the couch to stroll down to his local pub, was already a feat. Secondly, Ben decided to climb England’s three highest peaks – he who had never climbed a mountain in his life – and did so this year in 27 hours. Again, despite the inability to walk more than 20 minutes at a go.

 

In other words, Ben stopped obsessing on the problem, lack of leg and all it entailed, and turned his mind, heart and body 180 degrees in the opposite direction. Which brought him success, purpose, and fulfillment. Not bad!

 

Now you don’t need to lose a limb or have anything else as drastic to occur in your life to re-focus from whatever your problem is to tracking down a solution. It doesn’t matter whether the problem is as minor as traffic or a bad hair day, or as major as an ailing child or loss of a job. Whatever the problem is, it won’t disappear or be resolved by staring at it.

 

Your best bet, in all situations, is to follow Ben’s most excellent example. Resolutely turn yourself from groaning about the problem to figuring out a solution. Or several.

 

You can do this. Yes, you can.