Thursday, September 10, 2009

Knights, White Horses and Fairy Tales

I hate to be the ogre that tell you this. I hate to be the one to burst your little bubble. I hate to be the bearer of bad news. I despise that life might never again be the same after this. Sigh. Big breath. But someone has to say it. Fairy tales are not real. No, not at all. No fairies in my life who got me dressed and beautiful for the prom. No knights who kept me from being barked at by boys in junior high. No white horses ever ride up outside the window of my house and save me from the inevitable toilet cleaning. No prince has ever found my shoe and spent hours and days searching for me. Nope, there are no fairy tales.
But all of us still have little girls inside of us. We still all watch the movies that end with the knight in shining armor coming to the rescue and everything working out alright. We hope for beautiful locks and matching dresses and shoes that are never worn or ugly or stained. And how is it that they are never sagging or droopy looking? And all those horses, but no horse poop. It's all just a fairy tale. It's a fantasy. An escape. A place to go and play pretend, just like when we were children.
But the thing is this: none of us really get the happily ever after without any pain or hard decisions or deaths or break ups. Nope. Not one. Happily ever after is in a storybook only.
So, what to do? Quit looking for the fairy tale and look life square on and find JOY. Real, not fantasized, joy. The kind that tickles to your toes and warms you up inside. Oh, don't be afraid of those fairy tales. They are harmless enough. They are even fun. And make believe is good for a season. But it will not sustain. To live, you have to see what is real and learn to be content. Learn to see the beauty in the real. I hope that your ability to do so will increase and that in time you will find more fulfillment in finding the joy that in wishing for a fairy tale complete with a horse, a prince and a carriage. Because real love, real family, real living is SATISFYING. It fills you up. It makes you content. Seek it diligently.
blessings,
rhonda

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