What’s your superpower?

On Friday, I shared that one of my special talents is the ability to kill even an air plant. Ha.

In the comments on that post, some people were discussing their superpowers, and Kristin-with-an-i (who has serious cooking superpowers!) said,

Hey Kristen-with-an-E: Here’s an interesting idea for an audience participation post: Invite everyone to share what they consider their own super power(s)–this will require people to not feel like they’re bragging!–and then what they admire in other people. I would love to see what everyone comes up with.

Some other people chimed in saying that was a good idea, so here we are.

I thought of some tongue-in-cheek superpowers that I have in addition to my air-plant-killing skills:

• dropping my phone (this is why I always, always have an Otterbox case and screen protector!)
• running into the dishwasher when the door is open even though the dishwasher has never moved locations

• making careless mistakes because I am going too fast
• sitting in 37 different positions during a one-hour lecture (I admire people who can sit still!)
• trying to solve all of my problems when I wake up at 2:30 am
• forgetting passwords
• immediately forgetting numbers (thank heavens the glucometers at work save the blood sugar numbers because heaven knows I cannot be depended on to remember.)

I do have some actually-useful superpowers too, though. 😉 And I think a lot of them come together to make the blogging life work for me.

Useful Superpowers (for a frugal blogger)

Steady Plodding

I am really good at putting my head down and doing things faithfully and consistently. Which is why I’m still blogging here after 16 years.

This is also a useful superpower when it comes to other things like: going to school, working out, cooking, packing lunches, learning a language, practicing an instrument, and so on.

Using Up Random Food

I was not born with this superpower; I developed it over the years of blogging!

If you’re new here: I originally started blogging because I wanted accountability about my food waste, so it’s been an integral part of my blogging journey.

Friendliness

Ever since I was in my teens, I have had no difficulty striking up a conversation with almost anyone, anywhere. I can make small talk with a variety of people on a wide range of topics, and I enjoy it because I think it is fascinating to learn about people.

This is a very convenient superpower at the hospital because every shift, I am getting to know at least 6-7 new patients, and “establish rapport” is an important soft skill to have.

I feel endlessly grateful that this is part of my personality because I honestly do not find the social aspect of my job to be draining.

I love making friends with people at school as well, and I think my friendliness helps with blogging; it’s a little different online than in person, but I think we have a pretty friendly vibe going around here.

Noticing (and appreciating) beauty in the ordinary

I think this one is a superpower that I developed because of my interest in photography. Taking pictures makes me see the world with more observant eyes.

The noticing superpower is what helps me see beautiful things even in the dead of winter.

Seeing potential in old and broken things

I can often envision how to fix something broken or rehab something old/ugly.

And that is definitely a useful skill for a frugal blogger!

Always thinking, “How could I get this cheaper?”

I think this is rather innate because it’s almost an automatic reaction to anything I face in life.

I think, “Could I borrow this? Buy it used? Get it on sale? Make it myself? Use a discount code?”

Honorable Mentions

All of the above superpowers do help with blogging but these next two don’t really.

I read super fast

I have always been able to read at a fast clip and I think that’s just the way I’m hard-wired; it’s no credit to me.

I usually know what direction I’m facing

I don’t think about it logically (meaning, I don’t think, “Oh, the sun is over there, so we must be facing east”); there is just some sort of innate sense I have that tells me what direction I’m facing.

I don’t know how this happens in my brain, but I can tell you that I have been this way since I was a kid.

For example, we visited an aunt and uncle in Kentucky once when I was in grade school, and I can tell you that their house faced south even though I had no way of knowing that at the time.

Soooo, tell us….what are your superpowers?

You can share useful ones, of course, but if you have any not-useful ones (like me running into the dishwasher door!), feel free to share those too. 😉

And as Kristin-with-an-I said, we’re not gonna think you’re bragging. It is ok to acknowledge what you are actually-factually good at! We all are a mixture of strengths and weaknesses, and I think it’s healthy to be able to see both of those in ourselves. 🙂