Beauty is as Beauty Does!

Once upon a time there was a king. He had reverie to be successful. He strived very hard. Though he did not know what success meant, he was determined to accomplish his goals.

His queen was a backbone of his dreams. She would find happiness in all the small pleasures of life and keep pushing him towards his goals. Every morning he woke up he would be inspired to do better. He would look forward to every new dawn. With his hard work and dedication, he has made a go of his new kingship.

However, there were days when he would not succeed which would fill him up with guilt and remorse. However, the queen would console him and tell him to do better the next time. She was his strong support system. He thought that getting  married to this queen; he had found a place in the sun.

By now, he had the world by its tail!

A few years later, a sudden turn of events happened. A beautiful princess caught the kings eye .As he started knowing her better, she became his new inspiration and strength. One fine day he decided to marry her.
When the first queen came to know of this, all she could do is grin and bear it. She confined herself to a lonely corner in the palace not to be seen by anyone. She was as good as dead.
Time went by and the new queen filled in for the earlier one. She motivated the king towards every success she could think of! she was happy, confident and proud of her accomplishments!

A few years later, the king entered a phase when success started slipping through his fingers. This is when the queen started showing her true colours. She could not bear failure, as she was hard as nails. She would make life miserable for the king if he faltered. He started chasing his tail all months to gain his foothold but without any results. By now, he had started to groan inwardly! He was filled with fear, guilt and had started losing his ethical ways. At any cost he had to win. He was like dead in the water.

Finally, as fate would take a turn, he fell extremely sick and was bedridden.
The queen waited for sometime however thought to herself that the king was of no use to man or beast. With that she decided to leave.
The king was lonely and sad. He felt his days were numbered. He wanted to turn back the hands of time and call his first queen back. When the queen saw him she quickly got onto the task and started taking care of the ailing king. She was an epitome of optimism.
Every day, he would make small progress in his health and she would rejoice like before. She would show him the light at the end of the day and made him look at the brighter side of life. She started doing all the things that she would during their happier days.
Slowly and steadily his health started improving, life started looking great again! He was happy once more!
This news spread like wildfire and the second queen hurriedly came back and tried to turn back the hands of time. She reminded the king of all the good times they had shared together. She reminded him of the success he had gained when he was with her.
The king heard all of this, her beauty was euphoric and he was again tempted to take her back. He did not know whether to wind a watch or bark at the moon. He asked her to give him a day to decide.
Finally the king decided: Never in a million years will I take you back as my lesson is learnt!” he said.
This was the beginning of his life!
You must be wondering what this story is all about. Think about it, isn’t it about each one of us.
The king: It’s you and me and it’s our life.
The fist queen: She is metaphorical for Hope
The second queen: She is metaphorical for our Expectations
When we invite Hope in our life, we do not despair failure but learn lessons from it. She helps us to do better every time. She helps us to bounce back from our temporary setbacks. With hope, we accept ourselves with all our shortcomings. We become more tolerant towards ourselves. She is indeed an epitome of Optimism!
On the other hand, Expectation, makes us feel desperate, a spoil sport, bitter, guilty, useless. She makes us compare our life with each and every individual that we meet. She makes our life a dreaded rat race. And, that’s why she is a killer!
Hope is beautiful, Expectation Ugly
Now, you decide which one you would like to go with -Hope or Expectations in this New Year?
If you decide to embrace hope tell yourself: “I hope to utilize my fullest potential and meet all my goals!” and she will fill you up with happiness, tolerance and optimism!
Some daily statements:

• I have done my best and I hope to get an increment. If not, then I will see where I need to do better. Life is an ocean of choices and chances!
• I have studied well and I hope to score amazing percentage. I believe in ‘do your best, and forget about the rest”.
• I hope to see much happier days as every day I make a happier choice.

P.S.: I hope you like this story and can relate to your life. I do not expect you like  but if you do, please leave a reply, it will be my pleasure and will motivate me to share my thoughts further.