The End

A fairy tale begins with, 'Once upon a time, there was...' and usually ends with '... and they lived happily ever after.' We all dig such stuff right? Least I do but for once I was actually upset when the Princess got her Prince Charming!

I have reason to believe that in the 'real world', stories usually don't have happey endings, EVER. If it did, how then do you justify Lily killing herself the day James was released from prison? (A Million Little Pieces - James Frey)

So as much as I wanted Maria (Eleven Minutes - Paulo Coelho) to be happy, I had grown to respect her single-minded way of making decisions and going about things. Even when she, highly unexpectedly, fell in love - for the very first time - she stood firm, all the time reminding herself that this wasn't the time and that she must fulfill the promise she had made to herself. Thus, she prayed before meeting Ralf for the very last time:

She knelt down and promised God, the Virgin, Jesus and all the saints that whatever happened that day, she would not change her mind and would leave anyway. She made this promise because she knew love's traps all too well, and knew how easily they can change a woman's mind.

As she left Ralf while he was still asleep, she kept hoping that he would stop her and in the end, he really did. Hmmm... I rather focus on the part before the 'happy ending' actually.

... things change, the man and woman come into play, but what happens before - the attraction that brought them together - is impossible to explain. It is untouched desire in its purest state. They know that the inevitable will happen, that what is real always finds a way of revealing itself. When the moment comes, they do not hesitate, they do not miss an opportunity, they do not let slip a single magic moment, beacuse they respect the importance of each second.

I've met a man and fallen in love with him. I allowed myself to fall in love for one simple reason: I'm not expecting anything to come of it. I know that, in three month's time, I'll be far away and he'll be just a memory, but I couldn't stand living without love any longer; I had reached my limit.

Life is too short, or too long, for me to allow myself the luxury of living it so badly (read lonely).

Love one another, but let's not try to possess one another. We are free in our mutual surrender.

If we're far away from the person we love, everyone we pass in the street reminds us of them... (cars, movie posters, granny's tales)

But their relationship was based on freedom, and no other sort of relationship would work - perhaps that was the reason they loved each other, because they knew they did not need each other. *

M. Scott Peck provides further relief. Read on:

Spiritual power is the capacity to make decisions with maximum awareness.

We are often most in the dark when we are the most certain, and the most enlightened when we are the most confused.

Serendipity is the gift of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for.

We live our lives in the eye of God, and not at the periphery but at the center of His vision, His concern.

Each person is unique, and you must rely on your own unique intuitive judgment.

*Substitute 'they' for 'I'.