I suppose it’s time that I tell you a long-held secret about me. It will certainly surprise you; perhaps you will feel that I have duped you for these past seven months. I’m truly sorry, but it was something I needed to do. Now that I am coming forward with this admission, I can only hope you’ll understand.
I am a super hero.
If I could lower my head in shame for having withheld this from you for so long, I would – but then I couldn’t see the screen and would make too many typing errors. By day, I am a completely unassuming woman, hardly distinguishable from any other woman of a certain age. In this persona my height serves me well, for often I can go practically unseen (unless of course someone trips over me). The Sirs rest comfortably – the house is filled with that mellow glow associated with abundant calm. I walk gently through life – thankful, secure and full of granola.
As the sun begins its descent in the western sky, my synapses begin to fire with a fervency that is hard to control and my breathing accelerates. I feel my heart pumping with the intensity that Olive Oyl used to have when she would see Popeye (yes, I’m dating myself – but work with me). My thoughts begin to race as if they were competing in a track and field event. Yes, it is time. As the moon rises, I become
I use the nighttime to obsess and worry issues and potential issues to death. If there are no problems to be slain with my powerful concern, I will create some. After all, I consider it my duty to keep my little circle of friends and family safe from disconcerting ‘what ifs’ and ‘could bes’. I leap from one outcome to the next, determining options and exit strategies, potential routes to happiness and/or obstacles to success. Have a terrible boss? I’ll worry that one for you. Are you feeling flu-ish? Don’t fret – I’ll jump to pneumonia and back with the expectation that by the time I return you will be feeling much better. Kids plucking your very last nerve? Fear not, I can go from worst case diagnoses to kids just being irritating, before you can say “Mimi, put the DSM-IV down”. As you can imagine, these midnight meanderings are exhausting. I am probably the only person who is happy that Daylight Savings Time is over, because the sun rises earlier – shortening my super hero work schedule. Now you know why I post so early in the morning – it’s my way of capping off another fretful night of slaying imaginary scenarios and plotting the capture of one too many unpleasant outcomes.
As the sun comes up I return to my leggings and sweatshirt, take the Sirs out to commiserate with a tree or two and look up at the sky. And I become the person you have come to know. The person who literally thanks God everyday for the gift of the morning. The person who can’t yet meditate but can take up a small, easy space in this world and delight in doing so. The one who believes that miracles happen all the time if you keep your eyes open, so why the heck am I worrying anyway? At the end of the day, we are all contradictions in terms – super hero and every-man/woman; Broadway star and bathroom lounge lizard; successful professional and frightened sham; Big Kahuna and one who wipes out before even reaching the wave.
“To be alive, to be able to see, to walk, to have houses, music, paintings – it’s all a miracle. I have adopted the technique of living life from miracle to miracle.” — Arthur Rubenstein
Waiting for the Karma Truck 
I used to have that super power, too. Sometimes, I can still almost bring it back to life, but not with the same intensity that would once allow me to lift a car with no one trapped under it….yet. 😉 I do not know how it happened…the letting go, but I know part of it had to do with trusting God more than myself. Good morning, Mimi!
Hi – and you are so spot on!! Handing it over and trusting the power that is far greater than us. That’s where I am in the mornings..I am really trying to get out of this costume at night – a) it’s really uncomfortable, b) it’s an exhausting job and c) every time I look at the sky I really do wonder what the heck I’m worrying about? You have the right answer, and I know it – I just have to incorporate it into my nights!! have a great day!
Laughing till I’m crying. Thanks for the release. You are more than a superhero! xoxxox
I am So glad I gave you something to smile about this morning Jo!! Makes me happy…xoxox
I need you to visit me!
I wish one of my super-powers included flight! 🙂
Not good enough!
I’m not a worrier but my mother is. She will worry endlessly about what could go wrong, and then – when everything goes all right – she worries about what COULD HAVE gone wrong. She is so good at this – I leave it to her.
It’s wonderful that your mom can assume the mantle on your behalf. My mom used to be the worrier – 24/7. And I certainly find myself diddy-bopping through life worry free during the day. But I pick up my cape and costume at night and try to protect those I love from any and all nefarious intents or odious outcomes. 😉
It would just entail a short visit to Western Australia but you are a superhero so I hope to see you tomorrow – haha!
Just a hop, skip and jump from the suburbs of Washington, DC! I’ll grab my cape and tights and see what I can do! Laughing..
Well we both live in WA!
Laughing!! Fair point!
Giggling madly! This is brilliant, Mimi, absolutely brilliant! I carry the worry gene as well–my grandmother used to say that if I didn’t have anything to worry about, I’d drive up and down the road til I found something! ;-). I think the idea of handing it over to a higher power, whatever form that power takes for you, is a wise one. Thx for getting my morning off with a little “life lesson wrapped in a smile.”. Xoxox, l
I like your grandmother’s description!! And that I could ‘wrap a life lesson in a smile’ is music to me. Thank you!! xoxox, m
Mimi, this was a thoroughly enjoyable post. We can all be superheros in some form. We only need to be aware that being a superhero is not always about being extraordinary, but just being who we are in life.
Spoken like the inspiring (and wise) teacher I believe you to be Ivon – thank you.
You’re a super hero……………..I could act all surprised but lets be honest I am not I knew all along that you were it showed…………………
Laughing..thank you!! I was sure I could get away with it when I wasn’t in costume..
My dear I too have that same super power. I’m learning to master it. It’s taken me many years. But with the help of a good partner, a great therapist and medication I have learned to quell some of my Anxiety Girl tendencies. I’ve learned to face my biggest fear, which is death. I face every day head on. I know that there are no guarantees in this world, so darlin’ if I wake up breathing, I’ve won half the battle. I believe my anxiety has made me love my life more. I’m kind of an adrenaline junkie now. It’s how you’re made and you are made well. Keep on being the Super Woman that you are!
One of my favorite Woody Allen lines – “death is nature’s way of telling you to slow down”..and I’ve made sure to keep moving since I heard it! 🙂 Seriously, good for you and your efforts to calm that inner voice down. I too have made some progress, though it would be disingenuous to suggest that at times, my super powers present themselves in full force at night when all is still. Thank you so much for writing..and for the props!! Perhaps tonight, I will leave the costume in the closet though. hugs, m
Hugs back at ya my dear. Please take care.
I will..you too!! 😉
Hello Anxiety Girl!
Mims….I love this, brilliant, humorous, insightful. I love this, even if I don’t love that you worry yourself to bits. You are my super hero and what you forgot to mention is your SuperFriend super power. You are no ordinary woman and that is exactly why I love you, even if I wish your pre-dawn hours were not spent troubling so many ails. Oh, and I have to know, what color is your cape, and do you accessorize? xoxo me
Hi my Super Friend..you need a costume too…Let’s see my tights are dark blue (more slimming you know than aqua or teal)….my cape though is yellow…So happy you liked this!! xoxo, m
Now it sure takes some super hero skills to add all that mirth and sunshine into that post! I’m grinning like a chipmunk. Thank you for making everyday miracles something we can all embrace with a grin. Thanks for letting us in on them super powers Mimi. Hugs xx Sharon
The thought of you ‘grinning like a chipmunk’ is what fuels my super powers!! Thank you so much Sharon! hugs to you, me
heheheh 😀
Fantastic post! I feel so much safer knowing your alter ego is worrying and fretting over things for me. 🙂
Never fear! Anxiety Girl to the rescue!!
I wish I could just let you do all the worrying then…but no, I have to join in. And at the moment even my super meditating powers are not warding off worry…
Really? I look to you for this inner calm…:-)
Ah Mimi…I wish I could summon it now..since my youngest’s diagnosis last week I am floundering and searching hi and low for this inner calm x
Now that we’ve emailed, please know that you and Isabel are in my thoughts…and I believe to my toes that she’s going to be okay…hugs, m
Thank you x
I suffer from a similar syndrome which I call saving the world from my bed…. 🙂
I like that!!! Much better outfit – you can save the world in your pajamas!
yes, although a superhero cape is pretty nice 🙂
laughing….
Got me at the title. And never let go. Your “Post of the Year.”
“As the sun begins its descent in the western sky, my synapses begin to fire with a fervency that is hard to control and my breathing accelerates.”
– Yours Truly, Anxiety Boy
Dear Anxiety Boy,
I’m so glad to have your company – and according to the Super Power Party, you don’t have to wear the tights when we go forth to save the universe from worry. But you do have to wear the cape.
ps. I think you liked this one the best, ’cause you’re Anxiety Boy and can now reveal your hidden identity. 🙂
No further comment. Period.
Full stop. 😉
OMG – David is rubbing off on you!!! 🙂
It’s so nice to realise that other people suffer from OCD/Anxiety too! It can be such a lonely condition, but it always helps to know you’re not a total psychopath… Thank you for making me laugh!
Happy to oblige! Thanks for stopping by…
You crack me up. Peace, C
How wonderful to wake up to this comment waiting for me! Thanks Claudia..Have a great day! m
I think that this is a by-product of having an active mind and always wanting to be doing something. Night-time therefore seems like a waste of time and whirring round in the head are all the things one could be doing. I have learned to deal with this problem by cutting back my night-time hours and allowing myself more ‘doing hours’. Inside of ‘worrying’ overnight, if there is something on my mind, I actually get up, write letters, research or whatever it is I am fretting about, then go back to bed. It splits my sleep in two, but the anxiety drops to zero. And what is the point of having restless worrying sleep, I may as well be doing something.
I do this too!! Great minds think a like…:-)