Rebecca was working on a paper
this past week regarding Superheroes and the psychology behind their
characters. “Dad, did you know that
Batman had no super powers?” she asked me.
“Yes, I did know,” I responded.
“But,” she continued, “He did have one power – self control.” She went
on to explain that he never crossed a line that he had set for himself, one
that included never killing his foes. Batman fought some nefarious characters,
but always exhibited that self-control. As
we have just finished our Thanksgiving weekend, the thought of self-control has
begun to fill my head, but not necessarily in terms of defeating enemies (real
or imaginary).
This time of the year, we tend
to get caught up in the holiday spirit.
It is a time for celebration (eating and drinking) and a time for
shopping for holiday gifts. Every
Thanksgiving, we look forward to this holiday feast where we enjoy a large
turkey, plenty of tasty side dishes and yummy desserts! We eat, we watch football, we socialize and
then engage in round II of eating. In
the next month, there are holiday parties, both at friends’ houses and through
work. At our places of business, the
company holiday party is the one time of the year that the “big bosses” come
out to share a drink and socialize with everyone. The holidays themselves are a time to gather
with our family and friends to enjoy holiday meals and exchange presents. The holiday season ends with New Year’s Eve
and New Year’s Day parties. The next few
weeks have the making for a fun time.
I am all for celebrating! However, this is the one time of year that we
tend to drop our control mechanism. I
know that I over eat (yes, Debbie will hear me moaning about this). However, the holidays should not be an excuse
to lower our guard. There is no reason
why I should gain weight in December. I
know that there are times of the year where we are under stress and it is good
to “let off a little stream” to de-stress ourselves, but we still need to be
vigilant on our de-stressing helper. In
the age of cell phone cameras and posting everything online, it takes only one
misstep in self-control that can ruin the images that we work so hard to create
(think of Mel Gibson’s drunken ranting or Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah's couch). We tend to sometimes get too caught up in
the gift giving process (i.e., buying gifts) that the efforts we took during
the year to watch our spending seems to take a 4-week hiatus. It is
good to celebrate, but we do not want to start the New Year saying to
ourselves, what did I do, how much did I drink, or, I spent how much?
Out of all the Superheroes
that we liked as kids, Batman was, and is, still the most human of
Superheroes. He lived a life protecting
the innocent and followed his set of values and beliefs no matter what the
situation, no matter how evil his rivals were.
In addition, he never made excuses for his actions. These are definitely traits to aspire towards
this season, and, all year long.
Happy Holidays!
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