Fairy Tale Lessons

This week, I am in a Fairy Tale mood. We watched the Dancing With the Stars' Disney night (yes, I know we're a week late) and when I watched Whitney dressed as Cinderella, it got me thinking. I love fairy tales because I grew up on them, but I also enjoy them because of the LifeWorthy lessons they teach. So This week, I'm going to do a series on Fairy Tales, and how they fit a LifeWorthy perspective. Tonight, let's look at Cinderella (The Disney version).

I love watching Cinderella's attitude throughout her story. After all, most of us are not treated like a slave by an evil stepmother and two bratty, spoiled stepsisters, but almost all of us can relate to her situation. Like Cinderella, all of us have been in those situations where someone is treating us badly, or taking advantage of us. We have all felt like we are trapped in our lives with no way to find better circumstances, and most of us have found ourselves alone at one point or another. Cinderella totally gets it!

But Cinderella lives a truly LifeWorthy perspective. She does her chores without complaint, finding a way to enjoy her work, even when Lucifer tracks mud all over her perfectly clean floor. Cinderella is faced with dashed hopes and disappointment time after time, but in the end, she rises above the sorrows in her life. She is not a perfect princess. She cries and sobs when her stepmother ridicules her and locks her in the attic. She experiences love and loss, but she also relies on her friends and leaves the attic to save HERSELF, even though she doesn't know what to expect downstairs.

So here are some LifeWorthy lessons I learned from Cinderella:

Lesson 1: Begin the day with a shower and a song.

Cinderella knows her day is going to be long and hard. When the clock starts to chime she says, "Oh, that old clock! Get up you say, time to start another day!" But then she puts on a smile and begins to get ready, singing about dreams. My favorite moment during that song is when the birds hold a sponge over her head and squeeze out the water, surprising her. It reminds me of that moment when I come fully awake, sometimes unexpectedly. But instead of screeching and pouting, Cinderella keeps on singing, and she keeps it up throughout the hard parts of her day.

Lesson 2: Do one thing, do it well, then move on

No one really enjoys doing daily chores, and heaven knows I don't. That being said, we do have to do things we don't want to do. Cinderella's attitude toward her chores is resigned, but the beauty of the bubbles and the iridescent colors of the setting highlight the fact that joy can be found in any task, even scrubbing the floor (or doing your taxes)! Cinderella successfully completes all her chores because she focuses on one task at a time, completes it, and moves on. Her commitment to her tasks allows her to finish everything, even though her taskmasters keep piling on more.

Sounds like a normal day at any office!

Lesson 3: It's ok to get upset

Have you ever been in a position where you have done EVERYTHING you can to "earn" the right to do something, but then, at the last minute, your hopes are dashed by someone else? Disappointment is a normal, natural emotion, and it doesn't mean you aren't LifeWorthy! It's ok to feel sadness, frustration, anger, and pain. Cinderella pours out her tears, and her heart, when her wicked family attack her and rip her dress, ruining the hard work that she and her friends have done. She has done all the household chores, helped her stepsisters and stepmother get ready for the party, and even dealt with Lucifer (the evil little demon cat that belongs to her stepmother) when he causes her to re-do some of her chores. That day was a nightmare of working herself to the bone only to be told it was for nothing. She couldn't go to the ball. But expressing all those negative emotions in Cinderella's safe place (the garden) among her friends (the animals), meant that she could release the negativity and seek comfort. She was rewarded by her Fairy Godmother for her hard work in the end, and all was not lost.

Lesson 4: But it helps to have a support system

On the worst evening of her life, when Cinderella fells the most alone, she found out that someone cared. Her Fairy Godmother may not have been involved in her day-to-day life, but when it counted, she came. Who is it, in your life, that comes when they are needed the most? Have you reached out to them when hard times come? If you don't have someone in your life to boost you up, then it might be time to seek a new support system, in the form of a club (not a nightclub, though... wrong support system), a church, a service organization, and if you still can't find someone, get a counselor. Sometimes, just knowing that someone out there cares about you and was willing to support you can lift you up. If you're not in a hard time right now, awesome! Be someone else's Fairy Godparent. You might be surprised at how rewarding that can be!