Life is a fairytale

will ever pass up an opportunity to be read to) those words that signified the start of a great fairytale.

As I drifted off to sleep, knights in shining armour would gallop across my counterpane slaying a myriad of monsters and rescuing damsels in distress.
It is easy to look back at a fairytale and think that they were just pretty stories with a happy ending designed to entertain.

Entertain maybe, but those stories are just darn right scary. Witches trying to eat little children left in the woods, a wolf gobbling down a grandmother, trapped in a tower forever, come on this is the stuff of nightmares.

Fairytales are there to help children realise a simple fact that we tend to forget as adults, the world is a dangerous place, and is most certainly not fair.
You may often hear the saying “life is not a fairytale”. I disagree. Life, more often than not, is the fairytale.

You may have replaced the ogre at the bridge with the obnoxious official who is holding up your application in the hope of a bribe, or the wicked witch may be the more practical challenge of an upside-down economy, but the truth still stands, life is not easy.

If it were, we would all be simmering stories of success never having faced a challenge in our lives in some blissful utopia. It would also be equally dull.
The really good fairytales, the ones that keep you reading to the end, are the ones that have you identifying with the hero.

Instead of St George you are the one slaying the dragon, you grab the axe and cut down the beanstalk, you are the person who, against the odds, rises up with courage, steps up to the plate, taking a huge risk and somehow manages to get through.

Somewhere in the stories are a few lessons that we manage to forget as we get older.
If you don’t recognise any of the stories I am referring to, then look them up or, even better, go buy a fairytale compendium from a bookstore and read to your kids.

Breadcrumbs make a poor substitute for stones. In Hansel and Gretel, the birds eat the path of breadcrumbs left by the children and they stay trapped in the woods. Always look for the best possible way of doing things.

Substandard methods and cutting corners get you into a lot of trouble (in Hansel’s case a close brush with diabetes and a rather large oven).
There is no problem that cannot be overcome.

Fairytales end happily. The most dire of circumstances are got around, the worst villains defeated and the deepest dungeons escaped.
This requires ingenuity, planning, using what is at hand and a lot of brainpower. It may also require a little creativity.

Have a relationship with a mentor. Fairy godmothers may be in short supply these days, but bringers of wisdom are still around in the flesh.
Find one. You may not like their methods (Pinnochio probably did not enjoy the woodpeckers on his nose) but they can be there for you when the cards are down.

Be careful of the fine print. Do not just jump into a deal, especially if the other party is called Rumpelstiltskin and refuses to divulge such important information prior to the agreement.

Also seeing as such drastic agreements (like selling your unborn child) usually crop up because your big mouth has got you into a mess consider the next point.
Character matters. You will probably only get the magic wand if you have the character to pass the tests to get it, and by then you will probably find that you no longer need it anyway.

Character will sustain you far beyond any of the quick fixes you can try.
There is no point in taking a loan if you cannot control your spending.

Watch out for Disney (or any other major film company).

Film (and some written versions) may or may not get the right message across. Sitting and waiting while singing “Someday my prince will come” while not doing anything constructive is not healthy.

If you are going to sit back and wait for your problems to miraculously vanish you have missed the point of the story and will end up sorely disappointed.
In nearly all-epic fairytales, the hero has to do something active, even if accompanied by a supernatural being.

Stop waiting for the phone to ring and make a few calls. Stop waiting for the situation to improve, work to change it.
Create your own story and pursue it. In closing though I would like to point out one thing against the legends that could do with a good edit – most stepmothers are not evil (it’s only if they try killing you that you need to be worried).

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