And they lived happily ever after – the most common phrase we hear from fairy tales when we’re little kids. When we’re older – we hear more sophisticated versions of the same phrase from the movies we see, the books we read, and the stories we hear. If you’re repeatedly told something since you were a child it might just be that you’ll believe in it, even if you don’t have a solid proof it’s true.
And having that kind of mindset imposed on us since we’re children – are we even able to think otherwise? Are we even able to distinguish the fairy tale from reality? Are we even able to distinguish our lives from the movie screen? I mean, how the hell do we know that Snow white and her prince lived happily ever after?? How the hell do we know that Snow white didn’t have an affair with one of the dwarfs?? How the hell do we know that the prince didn’t become an alcoholic and completely lost interest in his Snow wife??
It’s funny how we’re always chasing something in life. We always do stuff even if we don’t like it, in order to have a better future. We study hard in school to get into good universities. We work our asses off to graduate. We work even harder to find a good job – because hey – all that studying doesn’t mean we’ll be able to find one. We work in closed dark spaces for a boss we don’t like to earn a promotion. Plus – we have to make sure to leave some time to fall in love. To get married, to have kids, to pay the rent, to pay the bills, to pay the mortgage – all of which will ensure a better future and a happily ever after for all of us. It doesn’t matter if somewhere along the way we fall out of love, stop having sex, owe the bank a shitload of money – we have to stick with it! That’s the only way we’ll get to be happy later on. And that’s what we all want, don’t we? To be happy later on?
You know what? I might just go with the option b) – to be happy right now. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m no better – I used to do the same thing. I used to chase things so I’d have a better future, I used to preform tasks automatically, I used to do things that are expected from me (I might as well still be doing some of those things). But after all the tasks I worked really hard to fulfill, after all the stages I have completed successfully – here I am – 27, single, jobless, with no kids, no money, no flat and no car. And you what? I’m still alive. Actually, I’m more alive than a lot of future chasers out there. And even though I don’t have the things we chase like crazy since we’re kids – I have some pretty valuable life experience, a whole bunch of wonderful memories, great friends, a full heart and sometimes even a great big smile on my face.
Because somewhere along the way I figured I prefer happily ever now rather than happily ever after. Somewhere along the way I figured that chasing a better future can’t even be compared to creating a satisfying present. Somewhere along the way I figured I can never know how I’ll feel in the future, but I sure as hell know how I feel now. Somewhere along the way I figured that dancing to a song you love or seeing someone you really care about has much greater value than any car or house you might be able to afford in the future. And what about the future? What about that mysterious time when all of us will live better and happier? Well, we’ll just have to see what the future holds. But whatever it holds I know I wanna make the best of what I have here and now. And there’s some pretty great stuff here and now.
