Super Powers

I was recently asked what super power I would choose if I could magically have any.  I answered before I stopped to think (which isn’t uncommon and which sometimes leads to awkward moments).  My immediate answer was, staying power. 

Of all the abilities that I could have chosen, many of which are freaking awesome, I chose staying power.  I passed up on super speed, invincibility, invisibility, super strength, super intelligence, and flying power.  Who’s ever heard of staying power?  And why would I choose it?

Starting things is easy, fun and exciting. But as time moves forward and the project or job loses its novelty it becomes harder to be excited about investing time and energy in it.  Good ideas, good intentions and good starts often all end up in the same place, the graveyard of the unfinished.  There is enough good material in that place of the dead that if revived, brought back to life and finished, would amount to success, fame and fortune.  But those result never come to those who could have had it.  Because they quit.  They gave up something that once was all they could think about and focus on.  It was their pet and they invested time, money and energy.  And then it came to an end.  Came to an end because they had no super power, didn’t have the power that I would choose.

I finish more projects than most.  And yet I have sent more ideas and projects to the graveyard than most.  I think of the waste, my waste.  Oh, the loss.  I am missing out on so much.

I want staying power because it is a power that would permeate into all parts of my life.  No, I couldn’t fly to the tops of skyscrapers or mountains.  I couldn’t deflect bullets.  I couldn’t run so fast I was no more than a blur of color.  I couldn’t disappear.  But I would get things done.

I have heard people say they have a million dollar idea.  So what?  Everybody does, they are a dime a dozen (baker’s dozen).  So why are there not more millionaires?  Because there is no execution and follow through.  Ideas stay eternally ideas (or occasionally they are born only to die in infancy).  There would be more millionaires if there were more staying power. 

Maybe my choice isn’t a real super power.  And it may seem boring.  But at the end of the day it is one that would translate into the most value.  And value matters.  After all, what is the point of having a power if it never translates into anything but the satisfaction of whims and fancies? 

I chose what would make me better and by so doing making things better for those around me.

p.s.

I am a writer.  In writing staying power is essential. To get to a polished piece, follow through is necessary.  Ideas are easy to come by, development isn’t difficult.  Even fleshing out a first draft can be simple.  What’s hard is revising, editing, changing and improving.

I wish I could turn out a large volume of good writing.  But writing takes time.  Paying the price is part of the process.

So if my posts aren’t as frequent as posts on other blogs it only means that I am not a blogger.  I am a writer, and I share some of my craft on a blog.  When I am not posting it doesn’t mean that I am being lazy.  It means that I am working behind the scenes on other projects that demand time but give little back in visible progress.