Jenny sat at the back of the bus, her nose buried in her Nancy Drew book. She was a bit of an ackward kid and didn’t fit in with the other girls. She liked to play while rough while they pretended to bake and played with dolls.
She loved this book and was reading furiously. A young woman in the book was taken hostage and suddenly Jenny thought, “What if that happened to me?” She looked over her shoulder and stared at the car behind the bus craning her neck to get a look at the driver. It was a woman in frumpy dress and pearl. “Not someone who would take a hostage,” Jenny thought..
She looked around at the other kids on the bus and thought, “These guys wouldn’t have a clue about how to take a hostage.” But then the bus driver, Sam, caught her eye. He was wearing jeans and a plaid shirt. He had a moustache. This was the kind of guy that could take a hostage…
“Shoot,” she thought, “Shoot, shoot, shoot. He was driving the bus, it would be easy for him to drive them all away to some hiding spot.”
She started looking around out the windows furiously. “Were we on the right street? Had he taken an unexpected turn? Was he really taking us to school or was he taking us somewhere else?”
Claire was sitting next to her staring into space. Jenny shook her shoulder, “Claire, did we take a wrong turn? I think we took a wrong turn. I think he’s not taking us to school. I think he’s taking us somewhere else. Somewhere bad. I think he’s kidnapping!”
Claire looked stunned, she looked out the window and said, “I think you’re right… I don’t recognize that gas station… Where are we??”
“Oh my god,” said Jenny. “We have to do something. We have to stop him! Claire, help me tell the others but whisper. We can’t let him know that we know.” Claire looked back at Jenny scared. “Claire, you have to do this. You have to help me. Our lives are at stake.” Claire nodded solemnly.
They both got up from their seats and moved up the bus furiously whispering to the other students, “There’s something wrong with Sam today. He’s taken a wrong turn. He’s not taking us to school he’s taking us somewhere else. He’s kidnapping us. We have to do something.” The bus buzzed as the story quickly spread. “We need to make a plan,” whispered Jenny, “We need to convince him to pull over.”
Sam, hearing the bus suddenly buzzing with whispers looked in his review mirror then turned back. “Jenny, Claire, what are you doing out of your seats?” he said. Jenny looked over at Claire, widened her eyes, then turned back to Sam. “Claire needs to go to the bathroom. Like really bad. Like you need to pull over and find her a washroom or she’s going to wet herself. Sam, please!”
Sam looked at Claire, “Is that true?” and Claire just burst into tears. “Okay, Claire, don’t cry. There’s a McDonalds up ahead, I’ll pull over and you can go to the bathroom there. Come sit near the front.” Sam kept driving.
Jenny smiled, proud of her quickly thinking. Then quickly went through the bus whispering, “As soon as he pulls over, we all run. We all get off the bus. No man left behind!”
Sam pulled over and opened the door and Claire scurried off the bus. Suddenly Jenny was sprinting down the aisle yelling, “RUN!!!!!” The other kids followed quickly looking confused and scared.
Sam slammed the door shut and said, “What the hell are you doing Jenny?”
Jenny said, “We know! We know what you’re up to! We know you want to kidnap us and ask our parents for money to get us back.” She sticks her head out the nearest window and yells, “Claire! Go for help!!”
“Seriously Jenny,” says Sam, “I’m taking you to school and we’re going to be late because your friend needed to go to the bathroom. I’m not kidnapping you. Look, your school is on Roosevelt St., and we’re almost at Roosevelt. Do you see it? Right there?”
Charlie, a quiet boy with glasses, says, “Oh yeah, there’s Roosevelt. We’re almost at school. We’re not being kidnapped. Just another one of Jenny’s stories.”
Sam sighs and says, “Okay, sit down everyone. You’re going to make us later than we already are. Jenny go get Claire and tell her to come back.”
Jenny hangs her head, “But I thought…” Sam responds, “You thought wrong. Okay you know what? Never mind. Jane? Will you go get Claire?” Jane stands up, “Yes, Sam,” and runs to get Claire.
Jenny sits in her seat feeling like an idiot. When Claire comes back and sits down Jenny says, “I swear, I thought it was true.” Claire rolls her eyes, “You were always a little strange.”
The bus pulls up at the school and everyone files off.
Elementary school was a struggle for Jenny and it doesn’t get easier in high school. In fact, she’s so unhappy she’s place in therapy and is heavily medicated until age 15 when something shifts. She was in New York on a vacation with her mother when she’s spotted by a talent scout and soon starts getting cast in commercials and small television roles. When she’s acting, her depression and anxiety lift and she no longer needs the therapy or medication.
When she reads a story, she feels like it’s real and so acting comes naturally to her. This attribute got her into trouble as a kid and is the same thing that makes her a phenomenal actress.
So you may have guessed by now…. This story is about Hunger Games star and Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence. I took some creative freedom with details but when she was a child she did, in fact, convince her bus that they were being taken by hostages because she was reading about it in a book.
We all have certain gifts that we’re born with. And it is your life’s mission to figure out what your gifts are and share them with the world.
When your gift isn’t allowed to be expressed, it can caused anxiety and depression, like with Jennifer Lawrence. But when you find an outlet for them you feel alive, energized and are able to touch the lives of others.
So what is your superpower? Something that you’re naturally gifted at and love doing. It’s a strength and an attribute that you’ve had you’re whole life.
You have a purpose. You have a gift you were meant to share with the world.
There’s nothing that makes me feel more alive than supporting you to find it and share it. So I’ve created an exercise that will help you tap find your superpower.
CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR FREE EXERCISE AND FIND YOUR SUPERPOWER!
In one of my favourite quotes civil rights advocate Howard Thurman says, “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
The world needs what makes you feel alive.
FIND YOUR CAREER SUPERPOWER HERE
Can’t wait to hear what your superpower is! Comment at the bottom of this post to let me know ;)!!
Talk soon,
Bryn
