That’s My Fairy Tale

Read Time: 3 minutes

Neverending

I get to take a deep breath. I know something amazing. Something that keeps me from falling asleep through life. Something that keeps the curses away. (haha… I don’t believe in curses 😂) The part of my life when I believed it should be (or maybe had to be?) lived like a traditional fairy tale is over. Not because I grew up, but because my life shifted. 

The girl who wished for her “once upon a time” stopped wishing. Now, I’m the woman who knows this is her only time, so I’m living a different kind of fairy tale. It’s unique. It has to be unique. It has never been written.

I’m outside the lines. Beyond the framework. Moving away from the expected. My life can still be a fairy tale, though. It’s full of my kind of magic and mystery with lessons about honesty, respect, and trust. 

But, this is where the similarities end. My tale is never going to be dependent on searching for and finding my happily ever after. It never has to be. It is the happily ever after. In my tale, I’m not waiting for happiness to find me. It’s already here. It’s always been here.

The problem I see with traditional fairy tales is that they have two impossible to fit pieces – the beginning (“Once Upon A Time”) and the ending (“Happily Ever After”). Neither is impossible because it can’t happen or isn’t true. Stories do happen in a straight path to an ending. They can also be happy. It’s the middle that messes it all up.

No life can be anchored in a wish. It also can’t be dependent on a promise of that wish bringing happiness. At least not if that life is a full one. A full life holds happiness. It doesn’t wait for it. Waiting means sacrificing precious time. Happiness should not be at the expense of my time. The opposite is true. Happiness is there so I don’t have to sacrifice.

I’m living my version of a never ending story. I don’t wish my life into becoming. I become. I don’t dream of an arrival. I am the destination. What I find there is the story. It’s not predetermined. I can’t control it, but I know I can be free in it and it will always be fascinating.

I found a definition of a fairy tale that works for me –  “a story so wonderful it can hardly be believed to be real”. This is the kind of fairy tale I’m living. In my tale, I sometimes slow down to take in everything around me. My life is beautiful for a very simple reason. It’s the only story that has me in it. It belongs only to me.

I’ll keep writing my tale. It’s kind of cool to know I’m in my own story. Choosing the beginnings and endings. Being happiness. Feeling joy. Facing fears. Never waiting. Always moving. Learning and growing. Creating and building. Loving and giving.

I’ll cherish this story. It’s a tale full of wonder in a time of my own making. A time to share how I choose. It’s all the happiest ever afters.

Once Upon MY Time…