I will be taking a couple of weeks to have gal bladder surgery and a brief respite for recovery – see you in a couple weeks, and thanks for the support

My 5 year old was having a terrible, horrible, yucky day.  Everything was going wrong.  She had broken her favorite crayon.  Her sisters “weren’t playing nice”.  The cat scratched her…it was just awful.  She climbed up onto my lap and started to cry, and in one of those divinely inspired daddy moments, I said something completely unplanned to her.

“Do you know you have super powers?“

I explained to her that, even though she had some frustrating things happen to her, she had the power to decide how the rest of her day was going to go.  She could make a choice to have a crabby day, or she could choose to have a happy day, it was up to her.  She looked up at me and giggled, and said “I have super powers”.  She laughed some more, said it again, and jumped off my lap to go back to playing with her sisters.  I heard her telling them all about it in the next room, and I smiled.  Chalk one up for Daddy.

I have thought back to that moment several times since then, and I began to realize, we all have “super powers”, we just need to decide to use them.  Here is a short list of the super powers that come immediately to mind:

Mind Control: You can make a conscious decision how you react to the things life throws at you on a daily basis.  You can decide to take a positive approach and deal with people and situations in a positive manner.  Or, you can choose to get angry, frustrated, or even vindictive and bitter.  You can not control all the events or people in your life, but you can control your reaction, and how you decide to move forward.

Diffusion: You have the power to dissipate anger and frustration, sadness, or helplessness.  You can do this with a simple kind word.  You can sincerely care about another’s problem or concern.  You can offer a smile, a shoulder, or just a listening ear and diffuse the turmoil they are going through.  Simple kindness and caring can make all the difference when someone is going through a rough time, and you can be the one that provides it.

Magic Powers: You can perform magical acts.  You can make someone smile by sending the a note and telling them a reason they are important to you.  You can bring someone flowers, donuts, coffee, or something else that will brighten their day.  You can call a friend or family member and ask them how they are doing and make the entire conversation about them.  By performing these magical acts, you can change someone’s day for the better.

Time Freeze: You can take a moment in time and preserve it forever.  You can decide to take the significant moments in your life and enjoy them, you can decide to be there.  Not thinking about work, or your to do list, or the laundry, or the thousand other things that steal your focus from the important moments in your life.  Times with family or friends.  Times of relaxation.  Choose to be completely present in the moments that matter, and they will last forever.

Divine Intervention: I don’t know what you may believe, but as a Christian, I believe I have another super power.  I can call down divine intervention in my life and in the lives of others.  Through prayer, I can ask God to help me, and to help others.  I can ask him for any good gift, and He will hear me and act.  The power of prayer is truly a super power.

Those are just a few of the super powers I can think of.  Please feel free to add to the list in the comments, I’d love to hear what you come up with.  If you care to share, tell us a story about how you have used your super powers, or how others have used theirs to help you.  I look forward to hearing from you.

I had a rough time as a kid – not whining about it, just giving some background.  When I would come home from a particularly hard day of being picked on and verbally abused at school, my mother would say (among other heartfelt things) “People only criticize their betters”.

She told me that the people criticizing me were doing so because they knew I was a “better person” in some way.  She intended it to be a comfort, to sooth the sting of the things that were said, and I am grateful for that.  I took it to heart, and it did help somewhat.  When kids said horribly hurtful things to and about me (kids can be very cruel), I could take some solace in the idea that they were in some way envious of me and that was why they lashed out.

I don’t remember the exact moment it happened, but in some period of self analysis I started thinking about that simple, verbal salve my mother had offered me, and I had a moment of revelation.  I realized that if this were true of those that criticized me, I had to admit that it was also true about me.

I found a much deeper meaning in my mother’s simple words than she intended.  I could find something I envied about every single person I ever derided.  Sometimes it was an obvious attribute.  I criticized “jocks” because I lacked their physical skill and strength.  I criticized the “popular kids” because I felt excluded.  Often it was something deeper, and I really had to search for the root of it.  It was enlightening.

So dear reader, I suggest you look at the people you criticize and ask yourself this question:

What is it about this person that I envy, what  is it about me that is causing me to criticize them?

Sometimes you will see it right away, sometimes you will have to dig around for a while and get very honest with yourself.  It isn’t always easy to put your finger on it, but give it time and you will.

Once you figure that out, ask yourself if it is a trait truly worthy of envy.  If it is, do something to move toward the place where you perceive them to be.  If it isn’t, then it may be an area where you need to do some introspection to figure out where the discontentment is coming from.  Either way, you can only benefit from the answer.