We all love superheroes.

Every household with a child would surely understand my next few statements. We may have a child, nephew or a niece playing with superheroes, battling against the evil ones. Your cousin would sometimes prefer having Superman win over Batman, but he’ll make sure that for the other days, it would be vice-versa. For his happiest days, he would make Superman and Batman fail as he gets to be the “good guy” and the superhero.

Perhaps you remember a parcel of your life when you were Wolverine (or any other X-Men character, for that matter) and even make Wolverine’s long, retractable claws out of paper and position them to your hand. Wherever you go, you were confident that you could protect yourself from harm because you were a Power Ranger. You were also once Captain America or any other superhero in a Halloween Party. And for the younger ones, you may have been Naruto and show it with your hairstyles.

Everyone who has gone through an amazing childhood has experienced pretending to be superheroes. As cited in the article written by James Moore, many child psychologists believe that children like pretending to be superheroes because they want to find their place in the world and assert themselves, which allows them to have a level of power and independence.

Nevertheless, as time goes by, tastes change. Children become adolescents until they reach adulthood. During these more matured years, the liking for superheroes is lessened, if not suppressed at the back of the mind. We may look at little children and laugh at their silly superhero thoughts or treat adults who are still obsessed with superhero stuff, differently.

We may argue “Who is the real superhero anyway? Who is the super from all the superheroes?” And if we discuss this whether in a childish or matured manner, it will boil down to these questions and answers:

What do superheroes do? – They save people.

Why do we like them? – They are good-hearted, trustworthy and wise.

How do they succeed and win over evil? – They use their power.

Now, who do you think qualifies to have these qualities? Who is the real superhero? Can you do these? The answer is a magnified YES!

You can save yourself from going down by simply standing every time you fall.

You can always choose to be good-hearted and bless others with the blessings you receive; be trustworthy and able to trust the important people you build your relationships with; and be wise with your decisions that would lead you into winning the battles of life.

Lastly, you have the power. You have the power over your mind, over your heart, over yourself. You have the power to choose to be happy than to engulf yourself with sorrow. You have the power to love and be loved. You have the power to try and try until you succeed. You have the power to dream and work for those dreams. You have the power to control not the world, but yourself.

Be the hero! You’re not a child anymore. But you can still play the hero of your life. Don’t rely on others whom you think can and will save you. At the end of the day, it is only you who would have to climb from the pit to the peak of your success. Again, BE THE HERO!

By Erika M. Ilagan