Happily (N)Ever After

"The person that invented the phrase 'Happily Ever After,' should have his ass kicked--so hard." - Grey's Anatomy

I find that there really is no such thing as a "happily ever after" in life. At least not in the permanent sense. There can be pockets of happiness that we find as human beings, through relationships and joyful events such as marriage, births, and family gatherings, but is there really a happily ever after for life? What about things such as death, job loss, and disasters that we have no control over? Those things surely can't be counted into what was in mind when the happily ever after notion was invented. Those fairy tales were all about good triumphing over evil and the princess marrying her prince before setting off into the sunset to live happily ever after for the rest of her life. But what about the rest of the story?


All of my life, I grew up on Disney fairy tales. My particular favorites were Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid and I will admit openly that I wanted to be Belle and Ariel when I was a little girl. To some degree, at 23, I still do. But I realize as an adult that there really can't be a happily ever after for most people. Yes, there are the rare exceptions to that rule, but those are few and far between. The rest of us are left to the reality that is life. We will get our hearts broken, our dreams will change or be shattered, or we'll lose someone that we love. I have experienced this disenchantment firsthand with heartbreak, death, and my dreams being punched in the face. My first love broke my heart when he chose someone else over me, three of my grandmothers died within a two year span of each other, and I had to change my entire life course because of financial means. The truth of it is...reality sucks. It's why many people are content to live within their dream worlds where nothing can truly hurt them. I, on the other hand, have accepted reality for what it is and have tried to make the best of it.

My fairy tale isn't to find some dashing prince who will save me from all of my problems in life. Instead, I just want to succeed at what I do and help others. That has been my life goal since I was eighteen and realized that I had a passion for helping others with their problems. I know that when I grow up, I want to be a counselor for disadvantaged teens who cannot otherwise afford mental health care, but go to school within a school system. These are the people that need help...because without help, they become disenchanted with life completely at such a young age. I almost did. But through the help of one counselor, life turned around for me. I'm not saying that I got a happily ever after, but I did get a second chance at life. And that is what I hope to bring to the future kids.