Marvel’s Jessica Jones is not the type of TV show I would normally watch. It’s dark, gritty, violent, a fair amount of blood. Not my kind of show. But it’s about a young woman struggling to figure out how her superpowers fit in her life. And something about that drew me in.

Jessica solves crimes. She stops bad people. She’s super strong. She’s also angry a lot. And she drinks a lot, troubled by the immense responsibility associated with her gifts, and how those powers are shaping her life.

As I descend deeper into Jessica’s world, I am surprised to find that I am relating to her irritability. Like her, I become aware of an underlying frustration that is with me a good part of the time. I start to wonder if my frustration comes from confusion around my own gifts.

I am an empath and a healer. I have a gift for helping people heal emotional issues. And yet, I don’t readily announce it to the world. When people ask what I do, “empath” and “healer” are not the first words out of my mouth. I am cautious about how my gifts will be interpreted by the world.

We all have gifts. A friend of mine creates inspirational gatherings for women. Another friend creates beautiful settings. Some people are healers, artists, motivators or connectors. And yet, so many of us doubt our gifts and are wary of sharing them.

“Trouble finds me,” says Jessica, both resenting the problems that come to her, while uncertain how she’d feel if she wasn’t the one people came to for help. On one hand, her special powers prevent her from living a normal life, but would she want that if she could have it?

I started questioning myself: Do I hide from my gifts because I’m afraid of how my life would change if I fully embraced them? The more people who know about my gifts, the more vulnerable I am to their judgments. If I unleash my “superpower” will I lose the perceived control I have over my life? Who would I be? How would my life be different?

I believe we have a primal need to fit in, to be part of the pack. After all, we’re safer in numbers, or so they say. But fitting in is in direct conflict with standing out. Standing out requires taking a chance, being seen, being open to judgment. Standing out takes courage.

Over time, Jessica grows into her super strength. She becomes a superhero not only because of her superpowers, but because of her willingness to embrace them. She abandons her need to hide in the shadows. She allows the world to see her gifts, to judge them, to love and to hate them. She doesn’t care. She is who she is. Powered and proud!

This is what I’ve learned from my journey with Jessica Jones:

• Being a superhero doesn’t come naturally. You have to grow into your special gifts.
• Being a superhero requires a willingness to live a different life.
• Being a superhero means accepting yourself and not caring what other people think.

Here are a few questions to help you unleash your superpowers:

• What makes you special? What are your gifts?
• In the beginning, Jessica Jones drowns her superpowers with whiskey. What distractions do you use to keep you from focusing on what you have to offer?
• What fears do you have about how your life might change if you embraced your gifts?
• Who or what might you lose?
• How would you describe the person you would have to be if you were fully using your gifts?
• What color would your cape be?

We all have gifts to share. The question is, do we allow our fear to stop us from being seen for who we really are? Or do we step up and use the gifts we were given to make the world a better place? These are the questions all superheroes must ask themselves.

Your turn. How will you answer?

Anna Francesca Celestino is an intuitive coach and author of Igniting Change. She has a gift for finding shortcuts to living a more fulfilling life like her 10-minute tool called The Emotional Workout. Six simple questions to find out what’s been sabotaging your hopes and dreams, and one question to turn it all around. Download your free worksheet now.

Photo by Miguel Bruna on Unsplash