Adulting Sucks: A Cheat Code to Life Using Super Mario’s Star Mode

Superstar mode, mushrooms, and other Mario glow ups —applied in the real world

I was probably six years old when I first played Super Mario. Over the coming years, I would play every version of that game; digitally traveling the world to the galaxy to Yoshi’s Island to whatever realm Kart was in. When I was nine, Nintendo released Super Mario 2 and I ran through the levels deshelling Koopa Troopas, low-riding Yoshis, and looking for mushrooms and firepower to extend my life.

Then I found the Superstar power. What a game-changer.

When you touched that little star, the upbeat music invigorates you, and you suddenly start flashing like a damned disco ball — and you become invincible. You truly felt like a Superstar. For those 30 seconds, there’s nothing you couldn’t accomplish.

But then you turn the game off, and grow up. You hit the Rainbow Road of life — where life goes off the rails, and there are no Superstars.

What happened to my invincibility?

Recently, I wrote about Spoon Theory, an illness management technique I use to deal with my Gumby Disease (which I can assure you is less fun than it sounds). With it, I preserve my energy (my daily allotment of ‘energy spoons’) by allocating it to the things that matter to me the most. In reality though, that’s most of us. Energy wanes as we age, get sick, or simply have jobs (and/or children) that toad-ally suck the utter life out of us.

How do we go back to the days when we could race through levels invincibly?

Embrace Your Superstar Setting

There’s another side to the tired, rough times though — the good days. Or, more realistically for some of us, the good hours. When I finally have a great day or afternoon, it feels like I punched the mystery box of life in the balls and reconnected with Mario’s magical ‘Superstar setting’.

During Mario’s Superstar Mode, it turns him into hyper-invincibility setting. He can run faster, jump higher, and defeat enemies with a single touch. He even somersaults instead of his normal Italian-plumber-level hop. According to the Mario & Friends Wiki Fandom:

“Super Stars (also referred to as Starman or Invincible Stars[1]) are items used in many Mario games, including the Super Mario series and the Mario Kart series. If the player gets a Star, they will become invincible.”

It’s his time to shine, and it's yours too. But much like Mario’s magic star, it’s often a temporary boost. Superstar mode is time-limited, which is a reality of the grownup life we all somehow got tricked into. If there’s a cheat code to get around adulting, I haven’t found it yet.

To me, all that means is that you have to make the most of it. So I do. I’m in star mode right now, using star power to create these words.

Trigger your Star Setting

You’ve entered the adulting level of life. Your quest is to figure out what triggers your Superstar setting. For some of us, it can be physiologically induced by caffeine, exercise, slow-release energy foods, or quick hits of sugar. Others can tap into it with psychological boosts from meditation or time with family or friends.

For me, today at least, it was taking my dogs for a hike in the woods. It’s my favorite activity. And between the relaxation of nature, the invigoration of the exercise, and the sheer joy of the dogs, it fuels me. Yes, I’ll be more tired after — but I can ride this wave until the star power fizzles.

Beyond the hike, I piggybacked on that physical energy to exert some creative muscle power. The physical and psychological boost I got from the hike gave me the creative star power to write this. Sometimes you can accomplish enough during starmode that you make it to the next energy box and re-up. Like Mario does here:

While I’m a firm believer that there are diminishing returns on caffeine, there are things you can do to extend your star power. Mental trickery if you will, like Magikoopa put you in a trance. It’s about finding what fuels you and maximizing however long that lasts.

Lava Pits of Life

On the other end of the spectrum, there are things that can put the kibosh on your good-mood-fueled superpower. I call them the lava pits of life. Even during Mario’s invincibility mode where he can kill any enemy in his way — lava pits (or being squished by bricks) will still kill him.

While you’re running on star power, avoid life’s lava pits. This might be a mood-killing giant pile of laundry, a toxic friend…or your mother-in-law.

Mushroom Powerups

In my desperate search for star power to combat chronic pain and chronic fatigue (and overall adulting), I’ve tried a lot of things. Including various sources of caffeine, diet, exercise, meditation, and more. I’ve both leveled out my blood sugar and intentionally spiked it for an energy hit. I’ve tried everything except caffeine suppositories and straight-up meth.

One thing that has worked for managing my pain, energy, brain fog, and mental creativity was a cue that I may have taken from Mario — magic mushrooms.

I’m certainly not recommending that everyone micro-dose (or macro-) mushrooms. It just happened to be another way that I found a star. Small doses of magic mushrooms a few times a month have helped me personally manage my chronic condition and mental health (which for me is a side effect of physical issues).

Before you think I’ve gone down some mystical green tunnel in this analogy and lost my mind, Mario-esque psilocybin is being used in medical research around the world. Yale University is testing them out with cluster headaches, and a number of other top universities and private companies are running their own trials as well.

My trip down Mushroom Road has not only helped me deal with some pain (granted its benefits are limited but I consider it a better option for me than traditional painkillers), but it has helped clear the brain fog at times too. I’m not the only one either. A number of famous people have stimulated their brains’ creativity with psilocybin, including Sting, Jean-Paul Sartre, Nobel-laureate physicist Richard Feynman, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and oodles more.

You don’t have to gobble mushrooms like me and Mario, you just need to find your superpower source. For me, it’s joyful times hiking with the dogs, and medicinal psychedelics. For you, maybe it's crocheting, gangbangs, or video games.

Find Your Star Power

Navigating the topsy-turvy Rainbow Road of adult life is difficult. Mario’s magic mushrooms certainly won’t be the solution for everybody. But life takes experimenting. Experiment with what works for you to find your star-power setting, to maintain it, and to avoid the lava.

It’s up to you to find your star…or your mushroom. And then keep it away from Princess-stealing, spikey-shell-wearing monster-in-laws.

As Mario would say, “Let’s-a go!”