Monday, June 28, 2010

Cinderella Reflections

Let me start by saying... I miss blogging... I wish I had more time to blog other than the middle of the night when my brain is fried and all the good things I thought of earlier in the day disappeared in the mountain of laundry that is either dirty or in need of folding, or went up in smoke with one of the many fires I had to fight that day... But here I sit again... trying to give you something to read... or maybe just purging my mind... whatever works...

Anyway. I have OCD tendencies. I am OK to admit that. Always had them and they come in spurts and I am not OCD about everything... just some. Like the way I make my bed - has to be perfectly even on both sides. When I use a public restroom I have to go to the middle stall. If that one is taken I start to the right and alternate right to left until I find the vacant one closest to the middle. I alphabetize EVERYTHING. I count when I walk... Just to name a few. Now that you all think I am completely nuts...

So during one of my OCD moments I decided I was going to scrub the kitchen floor. With a toothbrush. I clean the floors and mop on a semi-regular basis. And generally speaking my kitchen floor is usually clean. Wouldn't recommend eating on it, but it's still clean. The grout had begun to get gunky. It was no longer Delorian Gray... it was a combination mud muck and whatever else gets stuck in there over the years. I got out the bleach cleaner and the old toothbrush and sponge and went to town. Still not done but I am about halfway. Refer to opening paragraph about why I don't blog as much as I would like...

So I am down on my hands and knees scrubbing away when John comes walking thru the front door and almost runs me over... "Well Hello there Cinderella."

After my little chuckle at his observation, I started thinking. Cinderella got dealt the crappy hand in life and she didn't complain at all. She had it all. Was Daddy's Little Girl. Then when her dad died and Old StepMonster took over the chateau, she got shoved out to live in the tower. She didn't complain. She made friends with the animals and did her chores with a smile on her face and a song on her lips.

Then ol' Prince Charming needs to get married so they call all the eligible maidens in the land. To keep her excitement at bay her step-mother gives her a huge laundry list of chores to complete before she can go. A little disappointed, she does her bidding. With no time to spare to make a gown her animal friends make her a beautiful dress to wear to the ball, only to have it ripped to shreds by her jealous conniving step sisters.

Here she cries a bit, but she never gets angry and lashes out. More restraint than I would have had.

Enter Fairy God Mother. Man I wish I had one of those. Hooks her up with the gown, the coach, and the chauffeurs. And a CURFEW! What the Heck?!?!?! You are telling me I can go to the Royal Ball and have an opportunity to meet the Prince and possibly fall in love and live happily ever after and finally leave this wretched place and I have a curfew?! What if I can't meet the Prince by then??? What if I need more time??? UGH!

Well... that's what I would have said. But Cinderella doesn't bat one pretty eyelash at that stipulation...

She enters the Castle and is immediately the envy of every maiden there. She has caught the attention of Prince Charming and they dance the night away and fall in love. And wouldn't you know... the clock starts stroking midnight. What luck! Keeping to her obligations to be home she rushes off only to be halfway home and sitting on a pumpkin.

Back to everyday life the next morning. Only this time with a new song to sing. Does she think she's going to fly away with Prince Charming? She knows he's probably not coming for her. She can't even tell anyone it was she who was dancing with the Prince. Even if she did, no one would ever believe her. But she doesn't care. She got to be a princess for a few hours. And she has a souvenir.

Well, when The Kingdom comes calling she gets shoved away in her tower. Her pals, the animals, break her out just in time. She comes down and all her dreams have come true. She is whisked away to the Castle to become Mrs. Prince Charming.

Side Note: So one thing that always makes me wonder... Out of all the eligible maidens in the Kingdom, Cinderella is the only one with her shoe size???

I could really use a reality check from Cinderella sometimes. I like to complain about a lot of things. Laundry, cold weather - snow specifically, the fact that I can't sleep in anymore... to name a few. Some of my complaints are petty and selfish (let's just be honest here). But some of my complaints are rightly justified - as were Cinderellas. But she didn't complain. And good things came to her. Now I don't think my life is a fairy tale or will it end up like one... But I believe in Karma and reaping what you sow.

So next time I start to complain about something I am going to remember my time as Cinderella scrubbing my floors with a toothbrush and maybe I will stop and think and give myself an attitude check.

"Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life - in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing." ~Philippians 2:14-16