I am my own Superhero

“She needed a superhero so she became one”. How do we, as women, in this society become our own superhero? How do we break free from the imagined idea that we need someone, typically a man, to save us? From what or from whom do we need saving?
Becoming a superhero to save others sounds very altruistic but I couldn’t begin to think of how to save others because I needed to be saved. 

I tried getting my mom, my husband, my friends, my job to save me and that really wasn’t working out the way I had expected. When all those options failed I realized I needed to become my own superhero! AWESOME!!! What now?

The first step in change is becoming aware. Awareness is a gift and when you are able to step back, look at the cycle of choice/consequence and measure that against what your ‘ideal’ life looks like, you will notice some disparities.

I can’t identify my turning point because I believe it is now irrelevant. I do know I was miserable. I felt empty and deprived. I felt a deep yearning in my Spirit for something, anything bigger and better than the small cramped life I was living.
I realized I needed to be saved from myself, from my anger and my overwhelming fear of everything. I was a sad, sorry young woman. I acted out in self-destructive ways. My actions were impacting my family, my friends, and my marriage.

I knew I was a good person but my actions weren’t always good. How could I begin to bring those two concepts into harmony, into alignment? I initially changed my behavior in order to change my consequences. I soon realized that I found peace in my new actions and thought less and less of the outcome.

The interesting thing about awareness is that it spirals up and out, perhaps in all directions. Once I realized I wanted change I began to change then I realized I enjoyed the feeling of change and I changed even more.

The Buddha talks about liberation and transformation like the opening of a lotus, Shrek talks about the self as an onion. The truth is found in each petal as the lotus opens and between each layer of the onion skin as it is peeled away. Transformation is a powerful process and we can experience growth in so many ways.

I believe a hero is someone who overcomes seemingly insurmountable odds and perseveres, succeeds even when they seem to fail. A superhero remains true to the betterment of Self before they can be anyone else’s superhero. “She needed a superhero so she became one”. I believe she was already a superhero and didn’t recognize the costume.

Namaste 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pain relief

I have worked with people in pain for many years and the one common thread with chronic pain is we aren't aware of how debilitating it has been until we feel relief. I woke up this morning thinking about the power of the Pacific Ocean. I can feel the pull of the waves, taste the salt, and hear the gentle course and unambiguous crash of the waves. My very next thought was about letting go. I could let the waves wash over me and with their primordial rhythm take away everything that no longer serves me. The evolution of Self is a process. This process happens quickly at times like unrolling a cinnamon bun and other times it is a slow process like peeling layers of an onion. There are many occasions when we think we have just finished with a specific lesson and it cycles back to us in a deeper way to allow us to shed more of our ego and move closer to our authentic self. Pain is an agent of change. When pain is ignored long enough we develop coping mechanisms to LIVE with whatev...
Read more

Honest Yoga

“She needed a superhero so she became one”.  How do we, as women, in this society become our own superhero? How do we break free from the imagined idea that we need someone, typically a man, to save us? From what or from whom do we need saving? Becoming a superhero to save others sounds very altruistic but I couldn’t begin to think of how to save others because I needed to be saved. I had already tried getting my mom, my husband, my friends, my job to save me and that really wasn’t working out the way I had expected. When all those options failed I realized I needed to become my own superhero! AWESOME!!! What now? The first step in change is becoming aware. Awareness is a gift and when you are able to step back, look at the cycle of choice/consequence and measure that against what your ‘ideal’ life looks like, you will notice some disparities.   I can’t identify my turning point because I believe it is now irrelevant. I do know I was miserable. I felt empty and ...
Read more

Learning from our suffering

I have been in love and I have fallen out of love. I have had my heart broken and I am sure I have broken one or two hearts, although not intentionally. The deepest pain caused by fear and rejection leaves a lasting mark on our hearts. We suffer, sometimes in silence and sometimes screaming, but we suffer. Sometimes we make the choice to open our heart and share all of the love and passion with someone who is not ready, someone not in the same space, or perhaps someone unable to love with equal fervor. We take this as rejection and we suffer again. I believe this is a selfish love because we have an expectation of how we think that person should love. We are taking responsibility or their choices or limitations. We are trying to project our desire and our wants onto them, to control their behavior. I do not believe most of us come from a place of negative intention we are trying to level the field, to reduce our risk of injury. We employ many tricks to win over the focus of our ...
Read more