Princesses Work?

I think the biggest hurdle in embracing this whole "this is my happily ever after" mentality so far is the fact that I have a lot of plans. I have a lot of dreams and activities and plans and plans and plans (I'm slightly neurotic about planning...) of things I want to do.

With each day that passes I have more and more things I want to do, and it seems less and less time to do them in. And at the end of the day the only culprit standing between me and everything I think I want is this one slightly major ordeal called WORK. A job. My job. Or should I say my JOBS.

This princess works 3 jobs right now. She has her big kid job that she went to college for, her part time job during the week, and her part time job on the weekends. It seems at times there is nothing to live for except for work.

But do I complain? Oh you bet your ass I do....which is a problem. Because the cool thing about embracing this reality as My Happily Ever After is you actually have to think about WHY you do things. Why you do or don't like things.

In the middle of a long shift this weekend I caught myself thinking "Good Lord what am I doing in here on such a beautiful day off??" And I was immediately depressed. I mean, I'm sure rich people (like princesses...) don't have to work like this. I am such a slave to this whole MONEY ordeal. Poor poor me.

And then, once again I caught myself mid-complaint. I had to remind myself WHY I was working so hard.

Lets list the benefits shall we?

-Extra money
-Paying bills on time
-Paying off debt faster (hello Dave Ramsey - which is another post all to itself)
-Feeling secure
-Being able to go out for a drink without GUILT (have I mentioned my love of red wine...)
-Emergency Fund (I also have a tendency to break things...)
-Gift money

And the list goes on and on and on.

Sure, someday when all my finances are in order I won't have to work AS hard. But that doesn't mean I'm ever going to get to stop working. Because that's not what princesses do. If I was ever blessed enough to be able to spend my days outside of an office or a job, I would be obligated to do something profound like find a cure for cancer. Which, by the way, qualifies as work!

So...work I will. And I will work to ENJOY the work and all that it brings to my life right now. Not the least of which is an understanding of the worth of my money and how many pizzas a gal has to deliver to fund a bottle of wine ;)

For now and for Ever Ever After.

Princess On The Run

So, for the first time in about 2 weeks I actually have time to sit and ponder. Well, the sitting part is probably what I have missed the most!

I woke up this morning exhausted from my week. Crazy last minute business trips, running, teaching, hustling, working, playing...if there is something I didn't do or a role I didn't play I can't remember it! This princess is tired.

When I rolled over this morning and stretched I was sore. My wonderfully adorable dogs weren't being patient. The coffee pot was not going to automatically make me anything (I never remember to set that....). And the first thing that came out of my mouth was "Oh my God I am sooooooooooo tired." And it wasn't just an observation. Imagine channeling your own personal 5 year old version of yourself, and up the whiny voice a notch or two.

That was me this morning. Who am I kidding? That's me every morning.

But this morning I admonished myself and decided I needed an attitude change. Why, dear Princess, are you so tired? Because I'm so busy and I never get a chance to rest and the whole world needs things from me and I never have a minute to just breathe!!

Crickets....

I of course, was met by silence. Mostly because I was talking to myself (don't judge), but also because that whole lightbulb thing happened. I know why I am so busy and it's certainly not because someone is holding the proverbial gun to my head. It's because I CHOOSE to be busy. Do I have to work extra jobs to survive? Nope. I could probably squeeze by. I just really like the cushion (and wine money...). Do I have to workout so much? Nope. I could probably cut back on that and just improve my diet. And who wants to go all perfect on the diet front? Not this princess! I need my chocolate fix and that glass of red wine (cheap or not) is far too important to me.

So maybe, just for today, I will try and look at being tired as a good thing. Obviously I'm not happy with exhausted, but I can work on that too. I can get more sleep, and take rests when I am pushing too hard. But being tired is a good thing! It means I'm working hard. It means I am working towards my goals. It means that at the end of the day I am giving 100% and then some. It means that I am making a difference in my life!

I am chasing after that Happily Ever After and I am achieving it. Which is freaking awesome.

I am a tired Princess...because I am enjoying my life. For the now and for Ever Ever After.