Let me preface this by saying I’m not really the romantic type. I’m the kind of person who skips over the cliché romantic songs on my Spotify playlist and doesn’t shed a tear during the notebook ( I know, I know). With all of that being said, the one thing my heart throbs for is happy endings. I know its cliché, but the end where the girl gets her dream boy or vice versa leaves my eyes swelled and my heart full. I began to notice my admiration for a happy ending had left the realm of my imagination and started to transcend into my reality.
The thing about these happy endings is they just happen. Not saying this is unrealistic, I’m sure somewhere there is the perfect pair who simply let fate intervene and found their blissful happy ending. But for most of us, that reality is scarce and far between. My point in writing this isn’t to remind you how far off you are from your magical fairytale ending, but share with you three things I’ve come to realize.
1. Everyone’s happy ending doesn’t look the same
Maybe your happy ending resembles the simple storybook ending. Boy meets girl, girl falls in love with boy, and they live out their happily ever after in an old country townhouse. Maybe your happy ending is landing your dream job in your dream city, being fully content in your self and your own journey. Or maybe your ending is a life full of adventure and excitement around every corner. Whatever it maybe remember your happy ending is for you, so don’t make it fit someone else’s mold.
2. Sometimes you have to make your own happy ending
This is probably the hardest yet most important realization I had. In the movies, tv shows, books with happy endings, everything seems to fall in place. The funny thing is life rarely if ever, works like that. Sometimes things happen out of your control and throw every plan you once had out the window, but that’s okay. What you do with this is still up to you. The one person who determines your happiness and your happy ending isn’t your family, your friends, your significant other; it’s you. So if life hasn’t given you your happy ending, make it. Choose the people, the places, the moments that make you happiest, and craft your own ending.
3. The greatest lessons are found in the not so happy endings
Let’s face it; there are times when we don’t get the happy ending we once imagined. As much as not getting the fairytale ending sucks, it does have its advantages. I’ve found that the times in life when things don’t go according to plan are most often the times I learn the most. Maybe the ending you thought you wanted wasn’t right for you, and you learn that there is something better and more worthy of your time and love. Maybe your ending was for an old version of you, one you’ve outgrown so you learn to craft a new version. Whatever the reasoning or way it didn’t work out, I can assure you under all the rubble off frustration there is a lesson you never knew you needed.
So whatever your happy ending might be, just remember this, sometimes the greatest happy ending of all is discovering what you really want.