I have heard this many times and from more than one person, mainly of the female persuasion. "Where is my happily ever after?" This often comes after a round of chick flicks and ice cream. It may sound terribly stereotypical, however if it's right, it's right. I've done my share of watching chick flicks with the ice cream, cookies, chips, whatever the snack of choice is. I sit there with my snack watching the TV and the unsuspecting woman who has this man falling all over her. She doesn't see it, doesn't realize that he's so besought by her. This man of course is the perfect man, he would never treat her wrong, and if he ever did it was all just a huge misunderstanding. This man doesn't do anything that she sees as wrong, they hold the same beliefs, he makes her laugh, yet she doesn't see this friend as someone she could share her life with, for any of the obvious, laughable reasons.
We yell at the TV, wishing she would notice him, wishing someone would notice us like he notices her. This 90 minutes of romance keeps us at the edge of our seat for what we all know is inevitable, honestly I have not found one that has failed me yet. This inevitable get together or what we call happily ever after is never that. What happens when that moment of passion is gone and the two are left with reality? They don't show that part in the movie. What happens when the kids are the root of an issue, or there isn't enough money in the bank for the mortgage? This happily ever after doesn't address the days when she's feeling fat and he doesn't care.
I did happen to read a romance novel today, the end I knew about about a chapter in, wasn't that hard to guess. Why did I keep reading? I wanted to know what the story was about, how it turned out that way. It did actually surprise me at one point, which is not easy to do. The story of course wrapped everything up in a neat little bow. The end of the story the characters get together and despite everything that initially kept them apart, they know they are made for each other. Why after reading such a lovely story would I feel so disenchanted with the whole ideal of happily ever after?
The truth is, happily ever after doesn't exist. Ouch, I just killed a whole bunch of dreams right there, and I may be feeling cynical today but if I had known the truth it would have made my life easier. Even at a young age we see these stories that tell us if we just do it this way, we will live happily ever after. There's something better, you just have to find it. Things will be different, my parents won't yell at me, they won't tell me what to do anymore. This conception of how life is supposed to go, what we are supposed to do given to us even in the form of cartoons is misleading. Consequences don't matter as long as you follow your dreams, who thought of that?
The happily ever after we see on TV, movies, or read in books only gives us a start. It's a moment of beginning, it's not about the ever after, it's about that moment. For that moment, everything in the world was shining and perfect, forget about all the heart ache it took to get there, forget everything you have to deal with after, just enjoy the moment. The moment is gone all too quickly, and the things that matter stay forever. There are some things that will last, some beginnings that will have great endings. There are some stories that you know even with a rough start it could turn out to have a great ending, the middle is torture, but the ending was worth it.
I have a sign I bought, it says "It's never to late to live happily ever after." When I got it, I was thinking about how I was starting over in my life and would someday be happy like that. The more I think about it, the less I think about the romance side. The happily ever after, what is it after? The only time I know we will be ever happy is when we go to heaven. If that's my happily ever after I can handle the middle stuff. There it is for you, all wrapped up in a neat little bow, your story here on earth is only the middle, the time of trial and chaos, when you sit on the edge of your seat, waiting for perfection.
We yell at the TV, wishing she would notice him, wishing someone would notice us like he notices her. This 90 minutes of romance keeps us at the edge of our seat for what we all know is inevitable, honestly I have not found one that has failed me yet. This inevitable get together or what we call happily ever after is never that. What happens when that moment of passion is gone and the two are left with reality? They don't show that part in the movie. What happens when the kids are the root of an issue, or there isn't enough money in the bank for the mortgage? This happily ever after doesn't address the days when she's feeling fat and he doesn't care.
I did happen to read a romance novel today, the end I knew about about a chapter in, wasn't that hard to guess. Why did I keep reading? I wanted to know what the story was about, how it turned out that way. It did actually surprise me at one point, which is not easy to do. The story of course wrapped everything up in a neat little bow. The end of the story the characters get together and despite everything that initially kept them apart, they know they are made for each other. Why after reading such a lovely story would I feel so disenchanted with the whole ideal of happily ever after?
The truth is, happily ever after doesn't exist. Ouch, I just killed a whole bunch of dreams right there, and I may be feeling cynical today but if I had known the truth it would have made my life easier. Even at a young age we see these stories that tell us if we just do it this way, we will live happily ever after. There's something better, you just have to find it. Things will be different, my parents won't yell at me, they won't tell me what to do anymore. This conception of how life is supposed to go, what we are supposed to do given to us even in the form of cartoons is misleading. Consequences don't matter as long as you follow your dreams, who thought of that?
The happily ever after we see on TV, movies, or read in books only gives us a start. It's a moment of beginning, it's not about the ever after, it's about that moment. For that moment, everything in the world was shining and perfect, forget about all the heart ache it took to get there, forget everything you have to deal with after, just enjoy the moment. The moment is gone all too quickly, and the things that matter stay forever. There are some things that will last, some beginnings that will have great endings. There are some stories that you know even with a rough start it could turn out to have a great ending, the middle is torture, but the ending was worth it.
I have a sign I bought, it says "It's never to late to live happily ever after." When I got it, I was thinking about how I was starting over in my life and would someday be happy like that. The more I think about it, the less I think about the romance side. The happily ever after, what is it after? The only time I know we will be ever happy is when we go to heaven. If that's my happily ever after I can handle the middle stuff. There it is for you, all wrapped up in a neat little bow, your story here on earth is only the middle, the time of trial and chaos, when you sit on the edge of your seat, waiting for perfection.
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