Superhuman, Yet Only Human

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I recently returned from a trip to Bali. Before I left I was hell-bent on hacking jet lag. I was determined to do everything I could from losing sleep upon my return. I have shit to do and I wasn't going to let a 30-hour trip and a 15-hour time difference stand in my way. 

Or so I thought. 

I didn’t hack jet lag. I did everything I read about – fasted for 30 hours, touched metal on the plane to "ground", hydrated like crazy, and took melatonin as well as a handful of other supplements. Turns out I'm only human and had to endure 2 nights of restless sleep before my body adjusted. 

We often think we're exempt from the laws of nature: "I only need 4 hours of sleep a night" (only 3% of the population requires less than the suggested 7-9 hours. Or, "I can get away with this second slice of cake".  

And on the same hand, we think we're less than the people we perceive as "superhuman" and say to ourselves "I could never do that, I don't have the (connections, talent, looks, smarts, resources, etc)". Despite the rags to riches stories of big wigs like Oprah and others who have overcome the adversities of the worse of the worse – somehow we think the same rules don't apply to us. 

In Asia there's a popular tee-shirt you see everywhere that says: "same same, but different". 

The locals see the tourists and know that they're just "people", yet they have different customs, cultures and appearances.  

Don’t fall into the trap that you're inferior to those who have achieved great things – that somehow, you're different. And don’t believe the ego that you're "above" anyone else. Whether you put yourself above or below others, either way your ego is making excuses to not step into your potential.

Because we're all same same, but different. 

Dana SkoglundComment