Solidarity Sunday #16 – Perspective

Life is the most wonderful fairy tale.

Hans Christian Anderson

Now, I already know what you’re thinking when you read that quote (I know, presumptive of me, right?). You’re thinking…Wait, Erin, life is most definitely not a fairy tale. Fairy tales end at the Happily Ever After and we never see what comes after. Real life is everything that comes after with all the struggles, challenges, disappointments and suffering that comes with it.

I mean, Hans Christian Anderson’s “fairy tales” were notoriously dark so…hopefully he didn’t mean that kind of tale. But I digress.

Hang with me for a second.

Because it’s thanksgiving weekend here in Canada, but not only because it’s thanksgiving, how about we try shifting our perspective on life a little bit. Because, yes, life can be hard (and much harder for some than others often because of circumstances completely outside their control). But it can also be delightfully, deliriously beautiful. Much like a fairy tale.

Having had a rough week with a sick preschooler and a teething infant, I desperately needed this reminder right now.

So, let’s shift our thinking and see if we can’t find the fairy tale aspects of our lives, shall we?

Once Upon a Time…

I woke up yesterday morning with a cloud above my head. I felt tired, sluggish and cranky. The constant joyful screeching of my youngest grated on my ears. The never-ending questions of my eldest exhausted my brain. And the drive to the first of three Thanksgiving meals left me begging for a nap (which I, thankfully, was able to take thanks to my wonderfully helpful extended family).

Everything seemed to annoy me and I lashed out at my poor husband accordingly. My cup was officially empty. Or so I thought.

But after some quiet time, and a rejuvenating nap, I exited the bedroom refreshed and resolved to change the way I was viewing life at this moment (possibly partially inspired by a timely Facebook reel…). I had been spending all week thinking: “I have to…” and feeling my shoulders creep up to my ears with the strain.

I have to do the dishes.

I have to get my work done.

I have to engage with my children and make sure their cups are full.

I have to exercise.

Everything felt like a burden.

But then, I realized, I was looking at my life all wrong. I was looking at it as a struggle to get through. Something that needed to be accomplished to a certain standard at all times. And it was…tiring.

So I decided to change it up. Instead of looking at my every day through the dreary lens of traditional adulthood I decided to take a cue from my kids and view it as I would have as a child when everything was new and exciting. And it suddenly became truly magical.

I don’t have to do the dishes. I get to take my time tidying up (which I actually enjoy as a sort of moving meditation) the evidence of all the wonderful food we ate today while listening to a great audiobook and remembering the grin on my preschooler’s face as she realized her bowl was filled with her favourite snack.

I don’t have to do work. I get to spend some quiet time by myself working on my business, which I own, and reveling in the amazing realization that not only can I make my own hours but I get to be my own boss and do work that I love knowing I am making a positive difference in peoples’ lives.

I don’t have to engage with my children. I am lucky enough to get to spend so much time with them every day watching them grow and learn and slowly develop into the fabulous little people they are. It’s truly extraordinary to see how much they change every day and to discover who they are, one day at a time.

I don’t have to exercise. I get to move my body in whatever way I chose to that day because I’m healthy and strong. I can walk, run, bike, lift weights, do yoga, or just run around with my kids. My body allows me to do all of this and more and it’s an incredible thing indeed.

Now, this doesn’t mean I won’t have hard days. Even fairy tales have their low moments. Sometimes the heroes struggle to know whether they’re going to make it through to the other side of the hard times. But you know what? They always do. And as the music swells, and the colours become brighter and more vibrant, they realize that life has become even more wonderful in their triumph. Their perspective on life has changed and they are no longer the same person they were when their fairy tale began.

It seems to me that life is like a fairy tale after all. It’s not perfect, some times it’s downright hard, and we don’t make it through unscathed. But if we can just shift our perspective, even a little, we realize that we always have the opportunity to see the beauty in the every day. All the things we are lucky enough to get to do every time we wake up to another day of living.

If we see every day as a new adventure, in a way, we get a happily ever after every single night and a new “once upon a time” every single morning.

So, you see, life is a beautiful fairy tale. A new one every single day.

Now that sure turned my week around. How about you?

xo Erin