Cinderella - Part One

So let’s be honest.

We all love Cinderella. She is basically the epitome of the phrase “Disney Princess.”

When I was 16, my mom took me to see Disney Princesses on Ice. The first half of the show had all the princesses in it, but then, after intermission, they focused the second half of the show on “the most favorite princess story of all” – Cinderella.

Why do we love her story so much?

Is it because she’s such a hard worker like we believe ourselves to be? Or maybe because her prince is a hunk, even in animation form? Or maybe even because she has our dream prom dress, whether we’ll admit it to anyone or not, specially crafted for her out of thin air?

All of these reasons make us want to be just like Cinderella. But perhaps the most prominent reason is the one that is slightly under the surface, yet totally obvious.

She went from rags to riches.

Isn’t that what we all want? To better our situations? To be the perfect size, to have the best friends, the most gorgeous boyfriends, the nicest parents, and the newest gadgets?

This is why we want to be Cinderella. She went from an attic to a castle. She went from dirty clothes to a beautiful wedding dress. She went from mice to a handsome prince. We all want to go from A to B, as well. Our attitude in our situations is so important. Whether we in the climax of our story or in the happily ever after, we need to posses some very princess-like qualities that helped Cinderella shine even while scrubbing the floors.

Hardworking
You know as well as I do that if we were asked to do most of the tasks that Cinderella had to do, like feed chickens or scrub floors, we wouldn’t be happy. If most of us were honest, we’d probably admit that we probably wouldn’t even bother completing our task. Cinderella, however, knew the importance of hard work. Look where her hard work got her.

The castle.

Ecclesiastes 2:24 says, “A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work.” Do you realize that this verse means that we should find the results of our work as good eating?

That’s kind of tough to handle. I mean, I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t exactly rank eating chocolate up there with scrubbing out the toilet. So why do we get this satisfaction in our work that Ecclesiastes is talking about?

We have to realize the without work, we’re never going to get the happy ending. If you don’t put the effort into every single thing you do, you are never going to reap the rewards.

“All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk only leads to poverty.” Proverbs 14:23

Don’t you want the profit? Don’t you want the happy ending?

I promise that it’s worth it. Work hard in your sports, academics, relationships, self-improvement, and anything you wish to do. Study hard, and get the A. Practice up, and win the game. Learn to respect your boyfriend properly, and have a long lasting relationship. Make yourself a better person, and like who you are.

Suffering

We all know that Cinderella suffered. Remember when her stepsisters ripped her beautiful pink dress shreds? You know how that feels. You’ve all had a pink dress moment.

Remember when you tried your hair that cute new way you saw in the magazine and your frenemy said you looked like a poodle?

Remember when you finally got the courage to ask that guy out and he turned you down in front of his friends?

Remember when you ate that second piece of chocolate cake and your jeans didn’t fit for three whole days?

Remember when your best friend blew you off for her boyfriend?

Remember when your parents fought all of the time and you couldn’t make them stop?

Remember when you got into that huge fight with your sister?

Remember when you cut yourself because you thought it was the only option?

We understand what it means to suffer. But being a princess means that we accept our sufferings. We know we’re not the only ones out there who are going through tough times. We realize that hope is 1000 times stronger than our suffering.

Romans 5:3-4 says, “…We rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

That is seriously one of the most important verses that a princess should know. We’re all going to suffer and unfortunately, we’re going to continue to suffer forever. It’s just a fact of life. But what’s so cool about suffering is that once we get through it, we have hope. We know it’s going to get better. We know that there’s a happily ever after just around the river bend.