Oh Cindy… Alright girls, crucify me if you wish, but I have never liked Cinderella. Well, okay, that’s a lie. I was her for Halloween in second grade when I had my blonde-hair phase. BUT, I have since purged that fairy-tale from my hypothetical book of girl doctrine. I mean, sure, I believe in Prince Charming and happy endings, but getting either by waiting around for them? No ma’am!
Sure, I know the proverb is ‘Good things come to those who wait’ not ‘Good things come to those who bust their butt to get them’ but really Cinderella? The only thing you did to get to that ball was feel sorry for yourself and you got lucky your friends took care of the rest. You had to have freaking mice make a dress for you! And then you let your ugly sisters tear it apart instead of fashionably high-tailing it out of that prison. You didn’t owe them anything! You could have gone and saved yourself but instead you moped and cried. Thank God you had a fairy godmother to do all the magical behind-the-scenes work for you. Otherwise, you’d still be stuck in that tower with your rodent friends pulling bread bits under the door and birds flying in the window to barf up worms to keep your sorry self alive. All this while your evil step-mother and sisters hired cheap labor to replace you.
Alright, maybe I’m over-inflating things and being a tad critical. Nevertheless, the moral I’m trying to get at is life can give you hand-outs and you can get by with enough luck and looks but for heaven’s sake, don’t insult yourself enough to just crumble when there’s a curve in the road. You are not only beautiful, you are TALENTED and you can have anything you work for. People can only feel sorry for someone that is acting helpless for so long until they get tired of spoon-feeding you and wish you’d do things for yourself.
So, here it is: I am now giving you full permission to take control of your own lives. Yes, take control. I know it can be a daunting prospect. It’s hard, straight up, but you can do it. The next job interview that falls through, the next breakup, the next period that ruins your favorite pair of pants: fight back! As soon as you take charge, you’ll not only feel better about yourself, but others will notice your strength. You don’t have to take crap from anyone. You don’t have to accept ordinary. You can work for extra-ordinary and GET IT!
I agree! Though I realize Cinderella is a fairytale, I remember even as a little girl being irked by her lack of agency and her refusal to speak up for herself. Maybe we can't understand her situation, but all the same I don't think I could be that passive regardless. Your message here is well taken - Don't let others determine what you will do or have. While we can't control everything, it is important to take initiative and fight for yourself.
ReplyDeleteThanks for being so real and inspirational on your blog and on Twitter. It's nice to see someone who isn't trying to be fake: if you're feeling idealistic and romantic, you post on that, if you're feeling frustrated, you post about that. It's nice to see that you don't conform to what people want or to something that makes people feel "comfortable" - you just speak your honest truth!