the Woman that could

Once upon a time there was a young lady by the name of Princess. She had beautiful full brown hair, and shiny big eyes. She enjoyed wearing colorful dresses that showed her figure, until the day she realized her appearance didn't matter. She had lived so freely in the world, oblivious to the obvious that everyone had their own pain to deal with. Not that she saw herself as superwoman, but she placed great value in helping others feel seen and understood.

As she grew older, she noticed that she was very intelligent. She was always so excited to work math problems because it made her feel like anything was possible. She adored science because it held a mystical space of curiosity that was safe to explore. Writing had always been a free time to allow her mind to run free, you know, like children at recess. However, when it came to reading; it was always hard to understand. Princess told her teacher, "I feel like I can't focus on what is going on, and its making it hard to understand the context". So the teacher referred her to be tested for reading comprehension. Part of Princess questioned whether she really had in issue or wanted to have an issue for the sake of attention.

After a week of going to pull-out classes, she admitted, "I really can't focus". She grew depressed because she didn't understand what within her was hindering her ability to focus. Princess had told her best friend what was going on, and her best friend said "girl you are fine, everybody got something wrong with them". Princess then begin to acknowledge maybe its normally but she still needed answers. So when Sunday came around, Princess went to confessional in search of answers and was told, "Greater is He that's in you, than he in the World", and that statement left Princess even more confused. As Princess rode home, she considered all the possible meanings. "Does this mean I am normal, or that I am really weird?", "Who is He?", "How could something be great if it can't even focus long enough to understand the context necessary?", as Princess grew consumed with questions -- she turned to her mother for answers.

Princess had a great love for her parents, but she had always felt like they could pay more attention to her. Despite her desires of closeness, she always found comfort in her mom. Monday morning when Princess and her mom rose to prepare for the day, she asked her mother, "do you struggle to focus" and her mother just looked at her. The woman was too stunned to speak, so she just gave a generic answer and told her to hurry up and get downstairs to leave. Yet again, Princess was overwhelmed with defeat by the consuming need for answers. She didn't dare want to feel like a failure so she didn't even attempt to look to her father for answers.

Once she arrived at school, she went straight to the counselors office. On the car ride , to school, she had decided she would isolate herself from others. After waiting all of breakfast, she was told the counselor would not be in attendance for the day. Emotions like death overcame Princess that requested to call her mother to remove her from school, but her wishes were not granted. So, she decided that she would go into class and create a scenario where she HAD to go home. Upon getting in the car to go home, her Mom asked "this doesn't have anything to do with our conversation this morning, does it?" Princess said "yes but no" and grew silent. There was nothing else her mom could say to her. Even her dad's attempt failed.

With Princess consumed by the need to understand how her lack of focus still allowed her to hold great value, she begin to research what could affect one's focus. She looked into knowledge of the eye, and found the pupil is responsible for how it sees based on the amount of light exposure. Just when she begin to wonder why that was beneficial to know, a snake came across her television. She was slightly startled, but felt an urge to understand the role of snakes in life. She begin to feel a sense of relief in knowing snake eyes adjust to their exposure of light, but she still had not understood why she couldn't focus. It never dawned on her that her lack of focus could be based on her exposure to light. She had never considered that it wasn't the focus she needed but a chance to shine.

Later that night, Princess called her dad into her room to see if he could bring clarity to the statement she received in confessional. Upon his entrance, he rushed in for a hug. The hug had reassured Princess someone cared, and she said "Dad, do you know what it means when someone tells me that there's a greater HE in me than he in the world?" Her dad instantly responded, "yes, that means you've been given an existence that lives in higher authority. That higher authority tends to allow you to act in ways others won't understand, but stand firm on your decision." Princess broke out in tears asking, "do you know how long I've worried about that?" Her father responded, "yes, that's why I came to check on you." Princess felt so relieved that not only was the interaction with her dad not like she expected, but she now understood her focus wasn't the issue. She went on to sleep, ready to attack the next day of school.

The End.

(In life sometimes its not the focus that we're lacking, but the type of light we're exposing our eyes to. Just like with the snake, in the day, it protects its eyes from the danger of light and at night it freely roams without barriers)