My Secret Super Power

A long, long time ago, about eighteen years, my mother gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. It was perfect, just the four of us. My mom, dad, their firstborn Nathan, and me. When I was almost three, I was blessed with a little sister. It was wonderful. My parents are amazing, and my brother and sister are true blessings. I always tried my best to obey my parents because I knew they knew what was best for me. Then I turned fourteen.

My fourteenth birthday I was given the gift of knowing everything. It was almost instantly that I suddenly knew more than my parents. Now, this was a blessing and a curse because my parents still thought they knew everything too. This made for many fights, fights I had never really had with my parents, and for many slammed doors. I think these fights occurred because my parents were jealous that I had received my gift so young.

Being fourteen was absolutely perfect! Nobody knew anything and I knew everything. It was a dream come true.  I felt as though I had been given a super power. Of course my power wasn’t as strong at school because every super hero has a weakness. I think the school had some type of force field. It is not that I was wrong all the time at school, but I was not always right like I was at home.

Many times my mom would say, “You think you know EVERYTHING don’t you?!” I hated this question because there was no way I could admit to my powers, so I always denied I knew everything. (Even though I did.) Being a super hero and a freshman was perfect; it had its difficulties, but for the most part it was fantastic. It was such an exciting year.  After the first semester of my freshman year I turned fifteen. The long awaited fifteen.  For most people that would not have been a big deal, but I had a super power and my super power had a time frame, which I was not aware of. When I had received my power, a fairy god mother did not tell me the rules. When I turned fifteen, I lost my powers, all of them. I no longer knew everything.

Sometimes I wish I could go back to when I knew everything; when everyone was always wrong and I was always right. When life was simple and I had a super power. But if I had the chance to gain my power again, I would not. I have found there is wisdom in being wrong. It is wise to admit not knowing everything. Jules Renard, a French author said, “If you are afraid of being lonely, don’t try to be right.” In all my eighteen years of life, I have found this to be incredibly true. I never really fought with my parents until I knew everything. Looking back, I can see how drastically my relationships changed in that one year. At the time I thought it was wonderful, but it was not. Being right was not worth it. It is better to have an open mind, and a willingness to learn. There is wisdom in being humble enough to admit to being wrong.  I hope I am never given that gift again.