02 Jan Can You Define "Happily Ever After"?
Can anyone really define “happily ever after”. It’s the last sentence in all of those fairytales that give us that enchanting feeling of endless possibilities, but what does it mean? Nobody tells us what happens after the story ends? Does Cinderella get to wake up every morning to handsome prince charming bringing her breakfast in bed (and does that breakfast included no calorie chocolate chip pancakes…yum!)? He passionately kisses her before leaving their castle on his white horse to go slay dragons, save a damsel in distress and whatever else princes do all day while she puts on her glass slippers and meets the girls for brunch and a day of shopping…there is a ball this evening after all.
Seriously, what happens after you’ve gotten your “happily ever after”?
I used to watch Melrose Place (I know…I’m not proud of it, but just stick with me here). I’d watch Heather Locklear as a powerful advertising executive and think how awesome it would be to live that life (minus all of the random explosions and ridiculous drama, of course). She was smart, powerful, extremely successful and she wore the most fabulous outfits (granted her skirts were always a little too short, but hey, the producers had to do something that would entice guys to watch the show with their girlfriends). I was a communication major in college so my hopes and dreams of working for a big agency were enhanced when I thought that I too, could be so savvy.
I can’t even explain my excitment after receiving a job offer from a well known local agency. I literally jumped up and down screaming while hanging up the phone. Wanna guess what I quickly discovered? Um…yeah…this job was anything but glamorous! Not only was I working 12-14 hour days, but I wasn’t even making enough money to move out of my parent’s house let alone go shopping for power suits like the ones I dreamed of wearing. Of course I know that we all have to “pay our dues” and that’s cool because I’ve always had a great work ethic (thanks mom and dad), but just being in that environment and watching the senior executives made me realize that I had completely created the “tv” (aka completey false) image of what the industry would be like.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that you can’t have the life that you dream of, but I do think that often times we believe that when we get the “perfect job”, find “the one” or finally get (you fill in the blank here), we will finally get our “happily ever after”. We expend so much energy on searching for something else that we miss what’s right in front of us.
My definition of “Happily Ever After”?
Be thankful for every day and what you have.
Love the people in your life and make sure they know it.
Appreciate where you are now (even the challenges becuse these are the things that ultimately help you become the person you are meant to be).
Have faith and believe the voice inside when it tells you to go after what others might think is impossible.
Dream huge, work hard, always go after your goals and never quit…ever.
When you fail, learn from it and get back up stronger.
Be better tomorrow than you were today.
What’s YOUR definition of “Happily Ever After”? Comment below…:)