Happily Ever After

“….and they lived happily ever after.” [Citation - Any Fairy Tale]

“Happy endings are just stories that haven't finished yet.” [Mr. & Mrs. Smith, 2005]


Most of us were raised on fairy tales of one form or another.

The story structure for most fairy tales follows a very basic pattern: the main characters focus on a single goal…and then once the goal is achieved…..the story ends.

Real life is a bit more complicated than that….because for most of us… our life continues even after attaining our goals.

After growing up on a diet of fairy tales, most of us don’t have the necessary skill sets to even consider there is a “rest of the story” let alone deal with it.

In the words of Robert Redford’s character in the movie The Candidate, we have to face the very real reality of, “What do we do now?”

It is not uncommon for Olympic athletes to have a difficult time adjusting to life after Olympic success. (Off the top of my head - Tai Babilonia, Bill Johnson, Mitch Gaylord come to mind)

After spending their childhood & young adulthood single-mindedly focused on one thing, once the games are over….what do you do next? …and how do you do it?

For girls – the “uh oh” moment usually comes in the form of: Wedding Day vs. Marriage.

For better or worse, (even in the 21st century) girls are raised to think about and forever plan their (fairy tale) wedding.

So, there are a lot of weddings with “fill in the blank” grooms.

There are also a lot of divorces – because more time is spent planning the wedding and very little time is allocated to developing the necessary relationship skills to deal with the rest of the story (you know – the marriage part).

For over-achieving young adults, it is not uncommon to have to work through a “quarter-life crisis” soon after graduating college.

The Quarter-life Crises come in several forms – but for me it had a lot to do with focusing all my energy on getting a piece of paper….and then realizing that I didn’t have a plan on what to do next.

So in the midst of my quarter-life crisis, I adopted Ralph Waldo Emerson’s motto as one of my own, “Life is a journey, not a destination."

It is a nice counter measure to, “Happily Ever After”

Don’t you think?
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References

Robbins, A. & Wilner, A. (2001). Quarterlife Crisis: The Unique Challenges of Life in Your Twenties. New York, NY: Penguin Putnam, Inc.

Larner, J. (1972). The Candidate. Retrieved March 16, 2010, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068334/

Kinberg, S. (2005). Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Retrieved March 16, 2010, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0356910/