My 6 year old is a Princess (with a capital P) — complete with a pink room, wardrobe of pink dresses and a penchant for wearing tiaras… When she was little, we tried hard to avoid raising a princess (she had lots of trucks, trains and blocks) but I’ve come to the conclusion that kids are who they are and have given in to the cult of the princess.
But, Princesses (in her mind anyway) are heroines and possess certain traits (nice, honest friendly, helpful) – sort of like a pink Girl Scout 
This morning we were talking about fairy godmothers — in Cinderella specifically… Suzanne wanted to know if everyone had a fairy godmother.
I thought about it a moment and then decided that my answer was “yes”. If you want something badly enough, somehow things work themselves out that you either get that thing or get something better.
But, the key here is the wanting and letting the world know what you want. The part of the Cinderella story that is often overlooked is that Cinderella worked very, very hard to get to that ball before the fairy godmother even came into the picture. She completed an impossible amount of chores in record time, she made her own gown from scraps she found around the house… only after working hard (and facing some serious setbacks) did the fairy godmother come and help her out (and then she had to be proactive at the end when the messenger came around with the glass slipper).
Life (and if you think about it most “Cinderella” stories) are like that. Think of the unknown college sports team that makes the playoffs. That didn’t happen by chance. The players and coach on that team worked their tushes off (and then had some good luck) to defy expectations and make the playoffs.
The danger in the Cinderella story – is that people ignore the action and the hard work part and want to skip straight to the Cinderella part. Show me any overnight success and at least 90% of the time, I can show you years of hard work leading up to that lucky break. Vision is good — but vision without follow up is just a wish… (and follow up without vision is just busy work…)
There are fewer than 100 days left in 2009 – what you are doing to create your Cinderella story? This week, I’m working on the vision and next week, I’ll be getting some support for the hard work part of getting too my goals by taking part in the Fat Loss Quickie Transformation Contest - You can find out more about it here.
Want to join me in being a Cinderella story this year (tiara is optional…)
Wow Meredith… this is one of the best blog posts that I have read in a while. What a great message.
There’s a lot to learn for our children… and from the cartoons that they watch
It’s true… when you have the desire and you put in the work, magic happens. Call it your ‘fairy godmother’ or law of attraction… whatever you wish… either way desire plus action equals results.
You ROCK!
Scott Tousignant
This is a GREAT post! You’re so right in that so many people want results but don’t want to do the work necessary to get those results. You know I think this is sad, but I also have to be a bit selfish and say to those people: “If you aren’t going to work for it, get out of my way because I will!”
Anything worth having is worth working for – be it health, wealth or a fairy tale ending. If you want it bad enough you’ll put in hard work to get it.
I also want to say that you’re absolutely right on with the “let other people know you want it” comment. Making myself accountable has been a huge part of continuing towards my goals in the FLQ program and other areas of my life as well.
Awesome post! Must say I never really thought about Cinderella from this perspective before.
Great lesson to share with everyone!