As most couples do, my fiancé and I have a bunch of silly little nicknames for one another. I'm a big comic book fan so one set of said nicknames happens to be "Superman" and "Wonder Woman". And if you were to ask my fiancé she'd probably tell you that I live up to every expectation that a nickname like Superman carries. And if you were to ask me, I'd tell you that I fail miserably on a daily basis. Superman can move at the speed of light, has superhuman hearing, x-ray vision and seemingly limitless strength. So when I say I fail miserably when trying to live up to the expectations that Superman has, you may think that's a given. No one has super strength, speed, vision or hearing- we are all human after all. But there is one more "super power" that Superman posses that I consider to be his greatest. And this little know and grossly under-appreciated power is what I try to live up to each day.
So what power could be greater than all those I listed above? What could possibly trump being able to fly around at the speed of light while shooting laser beams out of your eyes? The answer is the one thing that makes Superman who he is - unassailable and unwavering moral fiber and altruism. The ability to always do what is right and put others before himself. Think for a second of what would happen if you were to give all of Superman's powers to a random person off the street. Would they help people? Maybe. But for how long? How long until they decided that they were more interested in what they wanted rather than helping others? Would this person be able to change the world? Undoubtedly. I would argue, however, that this change would most likely not be for the good. You can take away Superman's ability to fly and he would simply just run to the rescue. You could take away his x-ray vision and he would still almost always save the day. You could even take away his super strength and he'd still be a great hero. However if you were to take away his ability to always do what is right, then we might have a different story on our hands.
Now I'm not saying that I don't believe there are good people in the world, or that altruism and moral fiber don't exist. There are and they do. And there are many people who have lots more of it than I do. I'm simply saying that if we want to change the world for the better, the first place we should look isn't toward power or influence, but rather deep within ourselves. We all have the capability to do what is right, to put others first, to sacrifice ourselves for the greater good; the capability to possess a superpower on par with Superman's greatest. Imagine a world with seven billion "Super" men and women always doing what is right. Fantastical? Maybe. But I won't give up. I'll continue to wake up each day and try to be a little more like Superman, and you should too.