If I Were A Super Hero . . .

My decision a couple years ago to commit to writing three blog posts a week has resulted in several mornings of staring at a blank computer screen wondering what to write about.

Fortunately, I subbed in a sixth grade class yesterday that was brainstorming subjects for a writing assignment. They had to agree on one as a class (teacher's instructions, not mine), and they eventually had it narrowed down to three: movies (meh), outdoor activities (bleh), and superheroes. One girl complained that she didn't know enough about superheroes to write three paragraphs about them. I tried to suggest some different angles on the topic -- like, if you were a superhero, what super powers would you want to have?

And thus I have a topic for this morning.  If I were a superhero, what superpowers would I want to have?

Super strength?  I guess that would be okay. Thing is, in my life, there are not very many instances where super strength would be required. I mean, I'm sure my husband would have been most grateful had I been able to take apart by myself all the pieces of our concrete fountain in the courtyard when he needed to replace the motor, but such needs don't come up very frequently.

Invisibility? Oh, dear. I'm not sure I want to know what goes on behind closed doors when I'm not around. It may just depress me . . . or obligate me to take action I don't want to take. I think I prefer to stay blissfully happy in my ignorance. (Which, it occurs to me, is a tendency in myself I may want to examine a bit more closely . . . but that's for another day and probably not for public consumption, so moving on . . . )

Reading minds?  See the preceding paragraph. X-ray vision? Ditto.

Super speed? Aha! Now this one flips my switch! I can SO see myself zipping around the house getting chores done.  Dashing through the grocery store in minutes flat. Exercise? It'd be a breeze! Oh, yeah -- this one goes to the top of the list.

Flying? Hmmm.  I suppose it would come in handy in tandem with the super speed. And if I also have super strength, so I can grab my kids and their backpacks and soar across all the big city traffic to get them to school in the mornings. (They'd love that, too.  More time to sleep in.) My fear of heights tempers my excitement, however. And my dislike for the cold -- I bet it's cold up there.

What other super powers are there?  There are some more obscure ones: heat rays or freeze rays coming from the eyes.  The ability to climb walls. The mom in "The Incredibles" had the stretchy thing going on. These all strike me as cool but of less practical use. Yes, it would be nice to be able to reach the remote lying on the sofa without having to get up or something, but it wouldn't impact my life that much.

And now it occurs to me that super powers are not supposed to be about how they impact MY life.  They are intended to help others. Well, darn it. I suppose I need to re-think this all now.

But I won't.  Because I now have a blog post written. Mission accomplished.