Superman was created in 1938 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. In the beginning, he could move cars, trains, and even ships. He could run faster than a locomotive. He could leap over a tall building in a single bound. As he developed over the next four decades, however, Superman's powers began to expand. By the late sixties, he could fly faster than light. He had super-hearing and XRay vision. He could blast heat-rays from his eyes. He could freeze objects and generate hurricanes with his breath. He could move entire planets. Nuclear blasts didn't faze him. And if he did get hurt, somehow, he would immediately heal. Superman became invulnerable. Then a strange thing happened. He got boring. The more amazing his abilities became, the harder it was to think up interesting things for him to do. And, as the story goes, Superman waned in popularity because he was too boring because nothing stopped him. Of course, the comic series did later introduce Kryptonite, when they realized that what made Superman so awesome was the struggle. Readers didn't want a Superman who could avoid struggle, they wanted a Superman that could overcome the struggle despite all odds.
"A superhero who can do anything turns out to be no hero at all. He's nothing specific, so he's nothing. He has nothing to strive against, so he cannot be admirable."
- Jordan Peterson in The 12 Rules For Life
Think about this story in the context of your own life. I am sure that there are days where you wish you had been born extremely wealthy, or amazingly healthy and fit, or prone to agreeable relationships and interactions. Everyone wishes for that easier life at times. But what would life be without a struggle? Because it's that struggle that makes life worth living. The fact that you got that incredibly hard deal to closing, is what makes you, you. The fact that you had cancer and beat it is what makes you, you. The fact that you came from a life of poverty and now you have a nice home and a comfortable life is what makes you, you. The fact that your teachers told you that you had learning disabilities and you ignored them and went on to get three advanced degrees is what makes you, you. Your struggle is what makes you, you.
You are a superhero.
What makes you so unbelievably special is that you go up against the kryptonite every day and you win.
Where there is no kryptonite there is no life. Where there is no life, there is no you.
Thank God for all that kryptonite in the world, because it makes you you.
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