We’ve all come across people who we can’t help but be amazed by. Sometimes they’re friendly acquaintances; those magical individuals who seem to have a talent for everything. They’re perpetually fit, confident, put-together and somehow always knew exactly how to explain the chemistry homework in school, often better than the teacher did. It’s easy to write off these people as fantastical perfect beings, creatures we strive to imitate without any real hope of becoming one ourselves.

Then there are others, close friends and relatives who we grow to revere as our own personal superheroes. If we knew them any less we might lump them into the distant race of impossibly flawless people. But we do know them. We see the mountains moved and all the blood, sweat and tears it took to do it. We worry with and for them, waiting with bated breath for news of acceptance letters, job offers, graduations and promotions. We’re constantly terrified for them, all the while knowing with absolute certainty that they will achieve everything they put their minds to. It’s just a matter of time.

I feel lucky to have grown up in a family of people like this. I always liked to think of us as the real life Incredibles although, standing among them, I sometimes felt like baby Jack-Jack before they discovered he had powers, the normal one in a family of superpowered people. 

But you are your own worst critic. Often we are blind to our own progress. We’re only human, doing the best we can with what we have. A lot of people forget that it’s enough. You don’t have to wear a cape or be able to hold a building on your shoulders. You don’t need to obliterate your opponents with laser vision or do a number of other impossible things. It’s enough to wake up everyday and give it your all. Don’t wait around for other people to show you how to solve your problems. Even Superman needs a hand sometimes. Help him out by being your own hero.