L is forLiving Long and Full

 

“Happily ever after” worms its way into our psyche from the very first fairytale heard as a child. From early on we hold to the belief that “all you have to do is be this perfect princess and await to be rescued”  and you will be rewarded with the happy ever after. (HEA for short) Sure, these heroines have to go through a  lot of hard stuff, but if they persevere, in the end they will be rewarded with their hearts desire.  But whoa! It’s a set up for failure.  The promoters of HEA do not take into consideration the  loss of jobs, the broken down appliances, the illnesses encountered along the way. Now that I’ve shown you my cynical side, I hope you will stick around and I will try to not dash anyone’s young dreams.

My husband and I have just celebrated our 50 year anniversary.  We’ve reached our happy ending, right?  Are we there yet? Reaching that golden anniversary should be proof of a happy ending. But maybe the best years are still ahead, as we look forward to a move that will free us of the accumulation of stuff that holds on to us, not willing to be let go.  These belongings seem to take on a life of their own, clinging to us, trying to capsize this fragile craft we are on; making us think they are what makes us happy.  Belongings should not make us happy.  Living full should make one happy.  Living long would be wonderful too, but if one omits the he happiness quotient then who would want to live long?  Living happily ever after does not depend on living in a castle on a hill, but living each day to the fullest.

I wonder what the rest of the story was for Snow White as she lived out the HEA up there in Wonderland Heights.  Did an accumulation of stuff keep her and Prince Charming so occupied in maintaining it, that they missed out on the true blessings wrapped up in their HEA.  Did they ever have time for a vacation?  Did they jump out of bed each morning excited to be alive?  Did they fear invaders who might take everything from them? Did they have to wait two days for the repairman to come when their dishwasher broke down?  These are just questions that any home owner might ask.

I’d like to think that they did lead a charmed life up there in the Heights.  I’d like to believe that when it came time to retire that they could leave all behind and face their future hand in hand, faces glowing in the sunset.

This is in response to the daily prompt.  Read more entries here.https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/happily-ever-after/