Our Superpower is ‘Love’

With all these superhero movies around and them being very popular, it got me thinking about why we are drawn to such movies.

They are a figment of someone’s imagination, someone’s creation of people who cannot actually exist, sometimes in worlds that are completely fictional in nature but what I believe appeals to our mind, apart from the good story lines and all the action, is the ‘hope’ they seem to provide and the clear cut nature of the battle between ‘good’ and ‘evil’

In an un-ideal world, a world where no matter what, the ugliness and hatred seem to always shine through and rise to the surface, superhero movies seem to satisfy our desire to see good win over evil because in real life, it just doesn’t seem possible.

That feeling of frustration and vulnerability seems to come over us every time we see something or hear about something that we are devastated by and cannot control and to be honest, lately, it’s a constant feeling, an ache that never goes away because there is a lot that devastates and a lot we cannot control. In moments like these we can but wish that superheroes were real and their superpowers could help us save the world just one more time.

But I don’t want to give up hope just yet. Though the world looks unchangeable and evil seems to be abounding, more than ever before, I don’t want to give up because I still see that glimmer of hope.

I see that glimmer of hope when I watch a young man rant against the inhumaneness of other young men in a recent sexual assault case that shook the district I live in to the core.  I see that glimmer of hope when I see a political leader wear a head scarf to honour the community that lost their loved ones in a senseless hate attack. I see that glimmer of hope when I hear a young teacher say that she feels deeply responsible for her students and that means she is extra careful when she counsels them because their fate might as well rest in her hands. I see that glimmer of hope when I hear graduating college students talk about their future plans of giving back to the community. I see that glimmer of hope when an artist creates art about love not hate.

I see that glimmer of hope ever so often and as I see it, I realize that we, as humans, do have a superpower. We do have something that can change the world just as our make-believe superheroes do. We have something so powerful, so unique and so wonderful, if we just use it in the right way, for the right things and that superpower is LOVE.

None of us are oblivious to the power of love. The power of love to bring happiness, joy and elation to a degree never thought possible; the power of love to control every thought, action and decision regardless of the sacrifice; the power of love to destroy and devastate in moments out of our control. We know the power of love because we have used it, but only for certain relationships, not all.

But, when love is used as the foundation for anything and everything, when love is the basis for our interaction with the world, we begin to treat every single person, male or female, young or old, from every caste, community, religion or geographical location of the world as a loved one. Those love-coloured glasses change everything, I believe, because just sitting here I can imagine the way the world will work if these glasses were mandatory. Women everywhere would be treated as loved ones and not as objects to satisfy pleasure. Anyone seemingly different from the norm would be embraced without hesitation. Government decisions would be made for the benefit of the people rather than for personal gain. That is the power of love. So many things could change if love was used as the basis for behaviour.

Things won’t change overnight, however, as I’m sure some of you are already yelling at me right now. We cannot force everyone to wear love-coloured glasses, even if I wish with all my heart it was as easy as that. We also cannot believe that one or two people behaving a certain way will change deeply ingrained hatred and evil within a day. But, it is a start. A good start.

The more people make ‘love’ the norm, the more it becomes the norm. And as our beloved superheroes who band together from time to time to fight forces of evil, if we too band together with our collective superpowers of love, we will begin to see a change- one person, one day, one family, one community, one nation at a time.

This is what I believe.

Functioning on all four cylinders

The beauty that is revealed when people are functioning on all four cylinders is wonderful to see. For non-car enthusiasts, this means functioning at peak level, optimum level, the best level you possibly can function from, for now, that is.

Many of us  are used to operating using only half our energy and ability, sometimes substantially lesser. Not getting too in depth into activities, jobs and life in general,  is something we teach ourselves as soon as we realize we can get by by doing just the bare minimum.

If we have 4 hours to complete something, we finish the task by expanding the task to the 4 hours available, even if it takes lesser time. If we are given instructions of what to do, we follow the steps to the T even though we find inconsistencies in the instructions given. If we see something wrong happening, we assume somebody else will take care of it. If we think there are better ways to do things, we don’t take the effort to change the status quo. We let things be as they have always been and that’s okay. The world continues to go round and remains as it is. But, static lives are not the ones that revolutionize the world.  The lives that go all out, into the depths, with determination and hard work, those are the lives that shake things up and those are the people who gain the most satisfaction from life.

If we live complacently and are unexcited about life, content in the shallows, it is exactly like driving a powerful car at 20 km/hr. As a person who loves driving, this immediately makes me cringe because whenever I have to drive at 20 km/hr when I can go faster, I feel frustrated, I lose interest in driving and I wish I was somewhere else.

Many of us are going through life frustrated, completely uninterested and wishing we were anywhere but here. We are doing the bare minimum and this is how we feel and we have no one to blame, but ourselves.

If we want to not feel this way. If we want to get up every day with a sense of purpose. If we want that feeling of satisfaction. We need to rev ourselves up and fire up those extra cylinders because going at 20 km/hr at in a 200 km/hr zone is ridiculous, inefficient and absolutely frustrating both for us and for the world around us.

Driving faster is obviously not the easiest. Our senses need to be heightened. We need to be aware. We need to have the appropriate skills or build them if needed. We need to put in the effort. We need to take the time. We need to be super focused. We need to sacrifice on what we might want to do at the same time. We need to do one thing and we need to do it well.

In life that translates to- wherever we go, whatever we do, we need to commit to doing our best, not just the basics. Living up to our potential is what we were built for.  This is what brings satisfaction. This is what starts revolutions. This is what changes our lives. This is what changes the world.

Yes, there is more risk. Yes, distraction is not an option. Yes, It means more responsibility.  But, the satisfaction experienced is honestly. definitely and considerably worth it.