Superheroes and Rockstars

Like most children, I loved super heroes but I think my obsession with them bordered on the obsessive. In my teen years this changed and it was rock stars I held in the same light.

It occurred to me only yesterday why I was so obsessed and how this fascination eased over to the rock star genre.

The reason was so obvious! More than anything I wanted to be able to run, jump, play and do all things physical as well as any of my friends. Imagine then, being able to outdo them in these physical feats! That was what super heroes could do. That’s what I wanted to be able to do!

I didn’t much like Spiderman or other animal or specific skill superheroes. I didn’t want to be a spider hybrid. It was more the humans with all-round superior human qualities that I liked.

The Super Heroes

Superman was particularly appealing. He was a human but to the umpteenth power – a more than perfect human.

Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and any other B-grade Kung-Fu movie hero were also dearly loved by me. How I wished to be able to move with that grace, speed and power. To be able to jump onto a roof from a dead standstill was amazing. Hell, even if I had to take a run-up it’d be just fine by me!

The Six Million Dollar Man was also a firm favorite with me. As a child I thought there’d be nothing better that getting an infallible mechanical body and if it did fail it could be easily repaired. I’d imagine having body parts that didn’t get tired.

Of course thinking about it now as an adult, it disturbs me that I’d be so willing to throw away perfectly good body parts and inflict such trauma on myself simply to be free of my defect. If I were offered that opportunity today as a genuine prospect, well it’d scare me. That’s some serious reconstructive surgery! What frightens me more is that I’d seriously consider it.

What’s more fascinating is that I’d keep myself quite physically active trying to emulate these feats. I never did learn to fly but I did take private Kung-Fu lessons. My cardiac professors were not ecstatic with this I can tell you and I am not in any way recommending it! I did what I was capable of, being very careful to stop and rest if I felt I needed to. It was slow going at first but it’s something I’m proud of because eventually I was able to partaking in the general public classes. I was never particularly good at it and battled to keep up but I could in my own way and enough to not be too much of a hindrance to the class.

The Rock Stars

Later, much later in life I discovered a different super hero. These popular cultural figures I could easily emulate and aspire to. They were the Rock Stars! They exploded with energy for “short” bouts of fantastic showmanship on stage but off stage they were a sedentary, slothful lot. It’s something I could do with ease. All I needed was the look – I already had the attitude and the sedentary, chilled out thing would be easy.

Unfortunately this eventually took its toll. There was no reason to stay active. I was no longer aspiring to be a Bruce Lee or Jacky Chan and the very beneficial Kung-Fu habit fell by the wayside. After a few years (8 years to be exact) I started gaining weight. It’s weight that I haven’t been able to shift partly because I’m simply not physically capable. Being sedentary depletes muscle mass which makes it difficult to move. Having extra weight makes it difficult to move. Having a heart that makes it difficult to move doesn’t help the situation much.

Writing this makes it sound like an excuse and I suppose it is because there must be a way. I need to find that way, buckle down and do it. I’m just so tired though…

So please. If you have a heart abnormality and are lucky enough to be in any way physically active, DO NOT take the Rock Star route! Keep being as active as you are capable of!

If you’re a parent of a child with a heart defect that’s able to be or is being somewhat active, support them! Don’t push them – they need to hold that power to say “Whoa! That’s enough for now.”

Support them by letting them know that you’re proud of them. That they’ve come further than you’d have expected. That they’re outdoing any expectation you had.

 

Conclusion: If your special child has an insane obsession with something, the reasons behind it may be more important than the obsession itself.

Ciao for now.

One thought on “Superheroes and Rockstars”

  1. So True … unfortunately teenage children generally will do the opposite of what parents suggest. If a few would just read what you have written, they would possibly take heed of your excellent advice.

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