happily ever after

Dear reader...we have come to the "end" of our walk with the prince. It's just the begining for him.  The following words reflect my own experiences as I journey. Some have asked me if I think I am Prince Charming. I suppose my life has found me as both hero and villain depending on where one sits...and I write about both. All I can do is tell you what my own heart has found and I sought a new heart.  I welcome comment and pray my walk enhances yours.

Here we are…our journey has come to this undiscovered country.

It has taken great faith, unspeakable courage, and an awareness of the nature of what’s at stake and what’s to be gained.  This is a journey that has cost…and the cost has been gladly paid.  

Dragons…defeated, 

Witches…fallen over cliff, 

Out of control rosebushes…landscaped.

The Prince has come to the goal of his quest and has kissed a kiss that inspires the deepest sighs.  The evil spell is reversed and all that’s left are the immortal words…

Happily. Ever. After.

Few of us haven’t taken pause at those words and wondered if it was really possible. We’ve often tried to imagine the rest of the story.  Is it constant bliss? Do the birds still sing every morning? Are there still dances that last till midnight? 

Most would skeptically answer no. The prince has his prize, she has her castle, and now is simply a matter of doing every day until you wake up one day and wonder if you were happier in the tower and everyone is asking what happened to the fairy tale.  This isn’t the life you thought would be yours when the slipper fit. Happily ever after has just simply become…after.

In Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray” we see the first instance in known written form where we hear our hero mentioned.  Only here his name is not attached to heroics.  The attractive Dorian is identified as a young actresses’ "prince charming".  He pursues her and wins her, gives up the quest once he has had her. This despairing princess eventually takes her own life.

Dorian is not alone.

History is filled with poser princes who stop looking at the wonder of the princess heart, leaving a hole behind that may never heal.  Healing takes faith that there are real princes whose white steed isn’t a rental and who are simply dying for the opportunity to love a worthy heart of a queen.  The princely quest then must proceed with great care…but proceed all the same. It's still her story. The princess heart never dies...and it's always worthy.

The temptation is to stop believing.

Here’s the thing.  I believe in love.  I believe in magic.  I believe it with my whole starry-eyed heart.  I believe in bliss.  I believe in happily ever after.  

What I don’t believe is that it just happens.

Many of us who look like princes end up as paupers because the only effort we put in is the effort to win the princess and then we lay down our sword.

Lean in close because I want to tell you a truth…

…Our quest never ends.

It’s who we are.  We are men on a quest to seek a worthy heart…and we never stop.

I know what your thinking…what about the prince, right?  Is it ever about him? Does he ever get to just hang out with the boys and watch the joust with some flagons of grog? Wouldn’t it just be nice to head out to the forest in pursuit of a wild boar? What’s all this about questing?  If it never stops, why does it ever have to begin?

It’s simple…our story is irrevocably linked to hers.  Yes, we have our own life. If not, we would have little to bring to the table.  We can be strong, graceful, attractive, well spoken, and rich…all by ourselves.  However, without quest, we are merely shining armor, sans knight.  We become like a Dorian Gray or the humorous twist on our own Prince Charming found in the movie Shrek.  Flowing hair, winning smile, but no heart and no ability to go beyond the trophy.

Our heart finds a beat with hers and she is responsible to honor our hearts.  We can trust that she will. A true princess knows when she has found a worthy heart and you will find no greater champion of the heart of a prince.  I’ve seen this to be true. And a prince has no greater joy than to see hers full of life.  It may go against conventional wisdom…but we find our life in our love of another.

Another for whom, we never stop staring.

So, our friend, our Prince Charming, has brought us along on his quest.  He has trained himself, been transformed by beauty, he has journeyed through a nightmare, bravely stood in the face of certain doom, defeated the obstacles in his path, sweat, bled, and kissed with the entirety of his soul.  She is awake.  She is free.  She is as beautiful as he imagined her to be.  His joy is immeasurable…simply because she is.

Now the real quest begins. Finding her every single day…

Happily.

Ever.

After.