Hollywood keeps making movies about superheroes. They are really digging deep and coming up with the obscure characters no one remembers. Ant-Man, anyone? He’s coming soon to a theatre near you. But in reality, you need to be your own superhero.

Is the state of the world really so hopeless that we need the escapism of comic book superhero movies? Is it the rise of terrorism that scares us? Is it the impending doom of climate change? Is it the political stalemates that plague our country? The banking scandals? The GMOs? What is it we’re all so afraid of?

Sometimes the world can seem overwhelming. Sometimes world leaders can seem like all-powerful supervillains, but there are limits to what any man (or corporation) can do to us.

It’s lovely to think there is a moral champion in the universe completely independent of political forces, who is self-reliant and fights for justice, one that is going to swoop in just in time and save us all.

Superheroes are fiction. There is no benevolent mutant coming to save us, or even a billionaire with a cool tool belt. Do we really need to be saved anyway?

Be your own superhero. If you don’t like what you see in the world, change it yourself. Vote. Choose wisely where you spend your money. Recycle and don’t be wasteful. Be nice to people.

If you don’t like the way your life is going, only you have the power to change it. Throw out the freeloading boyfriend. Leave the dead-end job. Is your business not making enough money? Fight for it. Do you need to lose weight? Take a walk and eat vegetables. We all know what to do. Just do it. You are strong enough. You are enough. Period.

Follow your instincts. Your power is in your choices.

We all have a superpower. Discover yours.

And remember, as Uncle Ben told Peter Parker a.k.a. Spider-Man, “With great power comes great responsibility.” And great tights.

Be your own superhero. Be the hero of your own life story.