My Super Power

This week is Children’s Mental Health Week.  My own daughter Zoe (age 21) encountered a moment of trauma when she witnessed a medical emergency that lead to panic attacks and anxiety issues.  With the help of Adlerian counselors, she has made meaning of her experience, So much so, that she has decided to study psychology with her sites on being a therapist so she can help others someday.  However, she already wrote the most powerful essay about her experience that has already helped others.  Have a look:

 

 

My Super Power

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I have a super power.

 

When I was young, something happened to me, like being bit by a spider or coming in to contact with some radioactive sludge. One great event, and just like that little me would never be the same. I had a newfound superpower.

 

Surely enough, I could sense everything. Every feeling in my body was multiplied, and I became equipped with hyper-awareness of all that was around me.

 

If something was wrong, I knew about it. And even if something wasn’t wrong, I was on alert, doing my best as vigilante. My fight or flight response was so fine-tuned that there was nothing that slipped passed me without my knowledge. With lightening speed I put on my super suit and powered up my heart so that it raced at rapid speeds and sent my whirring around to repel against any potential threat in my path.

 

Many times my super power did its rightful job and kept me feeling safe, but there are no days off for a superhero, and soon enough I began to tire. I found a mentor who taught young novice superheroes like myself to hone in on their powers and learn to control it for better use.

 

I found ways to live my complex double life – average Joe by day, super hero by night.

 

I fixed myself a mask to protect my true identity from those who didn’t understand me or perhaps feared my powers. I created my own fortress of solitude. But, there is much loneliness in being a superhero. Everyday activities are not always suited for people like me, for instance there is always need for calculation and preparation to ensure that my powers will be kept in check, and my mask will never slips, not even for a second.

 

I even have some arch nemeses. They like to hide in plain daylight, in shopping malls or movie theatres. They are not pleased until they have ruined a delicious dinner out with my family. Like all duels, we fight for who has the upper hand. Sometimes I lose. But my Mentors have taught me everything I need to know to quickly get back on my two feet, and fight again another day.

 

I have a super power – and always will. But as long as I have supporting fans, I have a reason to keep fighting the villains.

 

Zoe Schafer