If I had one superpower, it would be to change people’s minds. Not in an imposing way, but rather in an influential manner. Disease, poverty, and hunger afflict the world, and there are conflicts raging around the globe, in addition to environmental challenges. While the human race struggles to tackle these impediments, our only habitable planet is collapsing. This calls for serious action. I would use my ability to change people’s minds to make them realize that in such a global katzenjammer, they can come out and help. They can lend a helping hand. The only way we can survive is to help each other. We can prosper only by supporting one another. And “helping one person might not change the whole world, but it could change the world for one person.” I would change the minds of world leaders to persuade them to work for public good and not personal gain. I would bring a change in people’s thoughts that wars, pandemic, and global warming are not the problems of a single state, country or continent. It is not ‘his’ problem, or ‘their’ problem to face. These are challenges that beset all of us; it is ‘our’ problem.
Using this superpower, I would also have also stopped major historical disasters. In 1865, I could have warned Abraham Lincoln and deterred him from attending any play. The repercussions of this move would have probably weakened the racial-discriminatory system in the United States. Likewise, my powers could have convinced Mahatma Gandhi of not visiting Birla Gandhi’s House, and he would not have been shot. A few decades later in 1933, I could have changed German President Paul von Hindenburg’s mind, and he then would not have appointed Hitler as the Chancellor, saving millions of lives and preventing an enormous chain of grave human rights violations from taking place.
My superpower could initiate a butterfly-effect of positive changes. It may help produce a utopian world that could actually exist. Where we humans too will exist collectively and are not divided by barriers of religion, language, race, etc. Where are thoughts are not based on selfish wants, but produce selfless actions based on others needs? And ultimately, I would use my superpower to reform, for the right thoughts stimulate the right actions.
Mustafa Topiwala is a high school student who aspires to use his abilities and talents to help others. Reading, writing poetry, sailing, surfing, and blogging are some of his hobbies, and he hopes to study law in the future. He is also an avid speaker and debater and is ready any time to engage in a fun conversation.