When I was a child, my favorite movie was "Sleeping Beauty." Whenever I like something, I really like it. So, because I liked "Sleeping Beauty" so much, there was a period of my life when I watched the film every single day. If you are unfamiliar with the plot line of "Sleeping Beauty," it’s fairly simple: Princess Aurora is born, her life is threatened by a villainous Maleficent, and so she is shipped off to live in a hidden cottage in the woods. Everything is fine, but as per many old tales, there is a prophecy carrying a curse that must be fulfilled; one in which Maleficent ensures that Aurora at the age of 16 pricks her finger on a spindle of a spinning wheel that puts her into a deep sleep. Are you on the edge of your seat yet?
If you couldn’t already guess, the only way Aurora’s curse can be lifted is if she is saved by a prince. Like most children, the things I liked and admired stood as a representation of what the world is like. And for me, this movie couldn’t be more relevant (I wasn’t a child who had much trouble with “nap time”). I always believed and hoped that someday love, and life’s opportunities, would fall into my lap. Love would walk into my life and “save me.” The sad reality is that many of my peers have too grown up with this fallible belief: the belief that love, work, opportunity, and happiness will happen to you, instead of you actively making those things happen for yourself.
Here’s something you may or may not know about "Sleeping Beauty:" she only has 18 lines in a film that is supposed to be about her. Something that a friend said to me during a car ride this weekend kind of smacked me in the face. He remarked, “You’re the most passive romantic ever.” The comment made me self-conscious, but he made a good point. If we live our lives passively, how likely are we to have the things that make life worth living?
Passivity is no stranger to me. As a child, my mother urged me to take chances because the worst thing that someone could say to me is the word “no.” Those two letters haunted me throughout a lot of my adolescence. I often would create failure before it happened as a mechanism to validate my own low sense of self-worth. Apathy is so much easier to express than showing the world that you tried and failed.
What I learned is that if you continue to wait for things to happen to you, often it is the negative experiences that will creep into your life rather than the positive ones. Put simply: "Sleeping Beauty" was wrong! No one will swoop into your life and solve all of your problems. On a wider plane, life will not happen to you. You must have the courage to seize moments that feel right, and build a life from that.
"Sleeping Beauty" will always be my first “favorite movie.” But we must not live with our eyes shut – how else would we pay attention to what is out there for each of us? There is no use in waiting for signs if you don’t follow where they take you. I am trying each day to pay attention to what is in front of me. I hope you are too.
