Prince Charming

All of a girl's life she is led to believe that one day Prince Charming is going to ride up to her "doorstep", sweep her off her feet, and carry her away to his castle in the clouds. This is sickening and disturbing to me because it is completely unlike real life.

As little girls we are fed romantic fairy tales like Cinderella and Snow White. These stories ingrain into us at such an early age that all we must do is wait like a damsel in distress for our perfect, handsome, rich, and absolutely romantic "Prince" to rescue us from all of life's problems. The problem with this is that none of these stories go beyond the "sweeping off" of the feet. They discreetly neglect the reality: That behind the Prince's smile is a man. A real man with flaws and failures who will sometimes not be very caring and sensitive, who will not always be romantic like she wants, who will sometimes be blinded by his pride and selfishness. If the truth be told, these fairy tales that we have grown to love have been twisted by Hollywood and served on a silver plater. In the real Little Mermaid she doesn't get the prince and when she dives back into the water she melts into foamy froth! That's probably more realistic.

The other problem with these stories is that love is a feeling, an event. There are no questions asked, characters tested, or important relationship growth. It is simple and mindless. We are brought up to think that relationships should be like this, which leaves us in a very scary place. We place all the importance on the swept up feeling and The Wedding Day, and very little on life questions. What will "Prince Charming" be like on a bad day, or when you tick him off? Ah, but these questions are irrelevant right?! Life, real life, will continue after that Day.

The truth is that relationships are hard work. We will have to work to get to know him. He won't always notice us from way (way) across the room and push through the crowd to meet us.
We will have to be a real person with real thoughts rather than a pretty (brainless) face. When the Honeymoon is over we will have to be confident that we have prepared ourselves for a life together the best that we know how. We will need to actually KNOW who we married (and it probably won't be Prince Charming)!




For all the women waiting for Prince Charming...GIVE UP. He isn't coming. Look for a real man, and work at a real relationship. It's time to wake up out of the daydream, and live in reality. It really will be sooo much better. I would take a real man with real flaws over a fantasy man who is perfect any day!

One more thing. Standing around won't get us anywhere. We need to work on ourselves. Be the right one, don't just look for the right one. Sometimes we are the problem not him.