How to be Your Own Superhero!

Summer—it’s the season of superheroes, at least on screen.

Spiderman, Batman, all the Avengers: we can’t get enough. Why do everyday people crave superheroes with extra-human abilities? Because they can fly/climb/leap/teleport into the most fraught situations and save the day. Nothing can stop them. They’re on the side of the angels. They protect the vulnerable and take down the culpable.

They have extraordinary power, and they use it with flair. Who wouldn’t want that?

Sadly, we can’t fly like Wonder Woman or teleport like Nightcrawler—imagine never having to fly commercial again!—but humans can command a real-life version of their heroes’ fictional super-powers. Read on!

Invisibility
We can’t become invisible like The Flash, but we can take positive actions without drawing attention to ourselves. By donating our time, money or efforts anonymously, we become virtually invisible, letting our actions take the spotlight.

Super-strength
While few of us can hurl an SUV across the street like Jessica Jones, or display superhuman stamina like Luke Cage, we can all develop and exercise extreme strength of character. It just takes commitment and lots of practice.

X-ray vision
Superman is famed for his handy x-ray vision. Humans can take a penetrating look at our innermost selves, examining our own motives and agendas. Know thyself, and to thine own self be true.

Super-sonic hearing
Daredevil has super-enhanced hearing, but mere mortals have the capacity to listen more closely and pay more attention to what our friends, families and colleagues are saying. We learn a lot when we truly listen. We all have the power to speak less and listen more!

Extreme stretching abilities
Plastic Man can stretch himself into any shape. The rest of us have to take yoga classes. And daily stretching exercises—whether you like them or not—can make us surprisingly limber!

Spidey-sense
Humans aren’t as finely attuned as Spiderman, but we all do have an internal compass. It just takes time and practice to calibrate and refine it. Whether we call it intuition or instinct, a gut reaction or subtle perception, we all have an inner knowingness. Prayer and meditation can develop it. It’s that still small voice within. You have one, too.

Time travel
Doctor Strange can travel through time. For humans, that’s what our memories are for! And when memories fade, we have scrapbooks and photo albums and longtime friends to keep our histories alive.

Cosmic awareness
Would you like a larger awareness of our very wide world? Read the newspaper! Read two! With awareness comes humility, and humility is a super-great characteristic. Like Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell) however, too much awareness can make us a bit nutty. That’s when we need a news break.

Power absorption
Rogue began life as a villain, but soon turned her powers for good. When sensitive humans spend time with other people, we can also absorb their energy: uplifting people uplift us, and chronically negative people negate us. The moral of this story is: choose your company wisely.

The power of instant healing
Don’t we all wish we had Wolverine’s ability to instantly regenerate and heal? The rest of us have to eat well, take vitamins and live as healthy a life as is humanly possible.

Telepathy
Professor X can read minds. If mere mortals want to know what someone else is thinking, we can ask! And then actually listen to their answers! We can be open books ourselves, which encourages others to be equally honest.

In all the above ways, we humans have quite a few superpowers! Are we ready to save the world yet?