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Three Tales and a Happy Ending

“Experience life in all possible ways -- good-bad, bitter-sweet, dark-light, summer-winter. Experience all the dualities. Don't be afraid of experience, because the more experience you have, the more mature you become.” ― Osho

By Devika PathakPublished 3 years ago 7 min read
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Three Tales and a Happy Ending
Photo by Denys Nevozhai on Unsplash

Life is what you make it and everyone experiences life based on their own perception. Whether the perception is good or bad, coming from a place of love or fear, filled with pain or happiness depends on the programming that you received so far in your life. Every thought is a product of the conditioning that we have received while we were growing up and experiencing life. I am not going to say that I received healthy programming because I too acted out of fear and pain many times (still do). In fact, most of the unrest going on in this world is due to the programming that we constantly receive through the society that we exist in, social media and news. Even the most polished and open-minded people are subject to this subconscious programming. Let me explain this through two stories that I read on the internet.

1. The Blind Prince

By Europeana on Unsplash

Once upon a time, there was a handsome prince who had the most beautiful eyes in the entire kingdom. He was admired by many and pursued as the most eligible bachelor. One day, he met a sage who looked at him and told him that his eyes are dirty and the source of trouble. The prince did not understand what it meant and sank into depression. In his gloomy state, he wandered across the palace and met a young and lovely concubine. She consoled him and slowly fell in love with him but the prince refused her advances. This hurt her but she did not say anything. A few years later the king found a good match for the prince and he got married. This hurt her even more and she got angry with the prince. Soon after the wedding, the king fell ill and she took care of him, years passed and delighted by her kindness, the king offered one wish to her. She asked the king to rule the kingdom for 7 days, and the king obliged as he had promised to grant her wish.

After becoming the ruler, she ordered the prince to become blind because she hated his eyes. This made the prince reflect on the words of the sage but he still followed her orders and fearing more rage and trouble from her, the prince and his wife had to flee the kingdom. They started going from town to town, living a simple life on alms given by people. A few years later they came back to the kingdom and the king recognized them. After inquiry, the king came to know what the concubine had done and was ready to punish her but the prince having experienced spiritual enlightenment, forgave her. She, however, felt ashamed of herself and committed suicide. It was because of her jealousy and hatred that she caused all the problems in the lives of everyone and ended up destroying herself in the process.

2. The Egoistic Princess

By Alice Alinari on Unsplash

Once upon a time, there was a pretty princess. Her beauty made her famous in the entire kingdom and attracted many suitors from the neighboring kingdoms as well. She had a childhood friend who worked as a court jester. The jester was in love with the princess, but the princess didn't reciprocate those feelings and the king got her married to a rich prince from a neighboring kingdom. The jester was heartbroken and angry and wanted to teach them all a lesson. He worked hard day and night and slowly acquired the wealth and wisdom needed to defeat the neighboring prince. Then one day he used his influence to overthrow the neighboring prince and acquired his kingdom. The princess who married the prince for his money became a servant in the jester's court. The moral of the story is - never underestimate anyone because time can do wonders.

See what I did here? I told you the exact same story with reversed gender roles and threw in a few descriptive intonations (manipulative storyline) for the prince and the princess. If you think hard, you would know that they have done and been through similar situations but you feel sorry for the prince in the first story and think that the princess from the second story got what she deserved. Why? If you think about it, both the concubine and the jester had to live a life that they did not sign up for. In the first story, the prince judged the girl for being a concubine and did not go forward with the relationship - a personal choice, no judgment there. In the second story, the princess wanted to marry according to the wishes of her family, keeping her future in mind - also a personal choice, no judgment there. But, the way the stories were presented made all the difference in forming public opinion.

Let's rewrite these stories a bit so that they can have a happy ending that they all deserve (and because I don't like so much negativity and also because I feel that everyone can get a happy ending even though we are not in Disney).

Final story - going back to when the prince in story 1 and the princess in story 2 got married.

By Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

When we are younger, we often feel that someone will come and save us but as we grow older, we understand that it will be our own adult selves who will ultimately save us ~ Author Unknown

The concubine was hurt but she chose to understand and accept the choice of the prince. However, something changed in her. She chose to forgive, be in peace and resolved to take charge of her life no matter what it took. The king fell ill and she took great care of him. After recovering the king asked her what she would like in return. She told the king that she wanted to study medicine and become a nurse so that she can help people. The king was impressed by her dedication and granted her wish. She started her studies.

Meanwhile, the jester overcame his sadness by choosing to forgive and learning the trade from a local merchant. The merchant was very impressed by his hard work and gave him a permanent position in his trading company. The jester started traveling to many cities and his influence grew. He became a wealthy merchant and began his own trading company. One day he reached the city in story 1. The city was beautiful and mesmerizing with a lot of wonderful delicacies which the merchant enjoyed a little too much and fell sick. The concubine who later studied to become the nurse was summoned to take care of him. They met, talked and she took great care of him. They both exchanged their stories, laughed, cried and became best friends. Soon it was time for him to leave the city and continue on his travels. It was a sad moment for both of them as they both didn't want to leave each other but at the same time, they did not want to convey it to each other because of their past experiences. Everyone except them knew that they were truly in love with each other.

The king observed this and decided to intervene. He summoned the merchant and asked him what he felt about the nurse. The merchant told him how much he adored her but was scared to lose her friendship by conveying his feelings to her. Then the king asked the same thing from the nurse. He counseled both of them and said that "Just because the past didn't turn out the way you expected it to, doesn't mean that your future couldn't be better than what you have imagined. Leave your past hurts and move forward to the wonderful life that awaits you". They both decided to take a leap of faith and told each other how they felt. The king blessed their wedding and they lived happily ever after, traveling across the world in their own little world.

By Deepak Kosta on Unsplash

There is no moral in this story because it is beyond all that. It was created in love and harmony with the universe and with the sole purpose of helping people understand that in life when we truly believe in ourselves, trust in the Universe and take charge of our lives, magic happens.

We long for fairytales in a world full of nightmares ~ Unknown

Your happy ending doesn't necessarily need to be based on society's standards and perceptions. It's okay to live a life others don't understand. Someone else's perception of you is not your reality and there is no point trying to prove your worth to the one who already doesn't value you. Sometimes, a happy ending can look like a warm teacup in one hand, reading your favorite book next to a sleeping puppy in a room full of windows with gratitude in your mind, peace in your heart, basking in the divine light of the Universe.

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