Ah， the fairy tale， the princess lifestyle， how sweet it all seemed. No 10)mortgage payments， no car bills， no real job， the ability to sleep forever (a favorite of mine). Those ladies had it all—in the end. In reality， though， that “handsome prince” we seem to be promising is in good company with Santa Claus and the 11)Easter Bunny—12)nary a one of them seems to exist. We end up settling for a 13)fixer-upper， which at times feels like a nightmare rather than a dream come true.
Come to think of it though， I should have been prepared for the 14)dicey stuff； we all should have been prepared. The pretty and good young woman only marries the prince after she has proven her ability to 15)withstand pain， humiliation， and other sorts of character building exercise. I should have realized that to achieve the fairytale ending， the princesses had to overcome extreme obstacles， fire breathing dragons， the poison apples， scrubbing the floors on hands and knees， 16)waiting on others as if you were the house maid； the seven 17)dwarves each had their own “unique” personality. It was all there. Why didn’t I see it？ Maybe I blocked it out， who knows.
Perhaps these tales do actually teach us a lesson or two after all. Perhaps we are meant to learn that we are stronger than we realize and that we are meant to pick ourselves up in times of trial and to endure all with great self pride and 18)worth. For when we do overcome the obstacles， both big and small， it makes the victory even more magical.