Happily Ever After? I Don't Think So

"Cinderella and the prince
lived, they say, happily ever after,
like two dolls in a museum case
never bothered by diapers or dust,
never arguing over the timing of an egg,
never telling the same story twice,
never getting a middle-aged spread,
their darling smiles pasted on for eternity."

We spend so much of our lives obsessed with reaching the next level - whatever that level may be. We spend so much time worrying about getting to the point where we can live happily ever after, that we forget that there is no happily ever after. There is no riding-off-into-the-sunset happiness. There is just life, and life is not perfect nor is it easy. Life requires hard work and challenges and struggling. And in order to survive, you have to get a little dirty, break a nail or two, shed a tear. And if you make it and have become a better person for it, then you have succeeded. But that still doesn't mean you get to live happily ever after; it just means you're ready for the next challenge.