The other day I met a man named Bret Armstrong. When I saw his name, I was like “now that sounds like a Superhero’s name!” Like if I was writing a superhero comic book, my main character would be named Bret Armstrong. I envisioned what he looked like: tall, good looking, muscles abound; you know, like Clark Kent! I also thought about what personality characteristics he’d have: compassion, power, courage, being fearless. You know, this man would be capable of anything!!

When I met Bret, I was somewhat disappointed. He was a small man, probably 5’5”. He was red-headed with a beard. He reminded me of a Leprechaun!! The tune “they’re magically delicious” ran through my head. 🤣🤣 All my hopes and ideas of meeting this “superhero” were dashed within a few seconds of meeting him.

But it started me thinking. What if by just him having such a strong name like Bret Armstrong instilled in him all those superhero powers? “I am Bret Armstrong. I have super powers beyond normal human capabilities. I can conquer anything I set my mind to. I am courageous, powerful, compassionate and fearless”. The power of positive thinking, right?

I was named Jennifer by my dad. My mom had the name Taya picked out, but they both decided on the name Jennifer. When I heard the name Taya, I thought it was so beautiful. When I was in 3rd grade I remember a school assignment in which we were asked to come up with a fictitious name and write about them. My fictitious character’s name was Taya Blue. I cannot remember what I wrote about her, but I was reminded of this when I started thinking about superheroes and super powers. Today, I believe Taya Blue is my character in me as I rebuild my life to become alcohol free. She is all of those things I mentioned about Bret Armstrong. She is powerful, bold, courageous, compassionate.

I’ve always been good at remembering people’s names. Maybe it’s the speech therapist in me, but I have a knack when I meet people for the first time, I can remember their first names almost every time, without too much trouble. When we’d go on vacation I jokingly said that remembering people’s first names was my “superpower”.

I believe we all possess the superpowers to make us who we are. Whatever magic trick we have to come up with to believe the power is within us, that’s what we run with. Using a fictitious character. Journaling about our traits. Bragging about ourselves. I started with my superpower of remembering people’s names. I’m uncovering the other superpowers that have been long buried. Ones I’ve put aside and have been almost embarrassed to share. I have within me all the traits of the Bret Armstrong’s, Clark Kent’s, Taya Blue’s. I AM a superhero.