A Fairy Tale

One upon a time there was a princess.
And she was really neat.
She had wild dark hair, and was strong and wiry and resilient.
She loved to wrestle with the boys, and play soccer and basketball and baseball with them too.
Then, change her mind
just like that
and put on her dress-ups, her lavish gowns,
and make-believe
and brush her hair feathery soft,
and strut around in her mother’s high-heels.
Everybody loved her
but
even more important
she loved herself, too.
And then she grew up a little
then a lot
And she didn’t want to play sports with the boys, because they were
always always
better than her,
and
dress-ups were for babies.
But. But but but.
She was still beautiful
and strong
and resilient
only she no longer saw it, no longer felt it in her bones
and her being.
And then life got stormy.
It got hard.
And she forgot that she was good.
She felt lost
and
she didn’t feel like a princess
anymore.
She lost herself.
She lost herself until she was nothing more than
bones and
children’s’ sized clothing
Her hair was no longer wild and dark,
it was
dull and brittle.
She was so tired
so lifeless – a dull achiness in her bones and hollows
that made her feel old and weak.
The princess wasn’t so regal anymore.
And then one day
she wanted to change
to reclaim her spirit,
her nobility,
her being.
It isn’t easy
and it hurts
but she gathers her strength and
Squares her shoulders and
looks herself in the mirror
In the eyes – in the soul.
And
begins
with a simple phrase:
“I am good.”

There is no happily ever after to this tale
because
life isn't always happily
and there's no
ever after
it's all about
here and now
and
what you
make of it.