Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived a beautiful young princess. Although the princess lived in a shining castle, and had everything a childish girl’s heart could desire, she longed for the day when she would be older, old enough to fall in love. Fall in love with a HANDSOME prince who would carry her off into the sunset and lead her to a life where she would live HAPPILLY EVER AFTER. When the young princess grew to be a BEAUTIFUL young women she met the PRINCE charming of her dreams. They FELL IN LOVE at FIRST SIGHT, were married in a beautiful palace and lived HAPPILY EVER AFTER. The story of the BEAUTIFUL princess and the DASHING prince was immortalized forever through a classic FAIRY TALE passed down from generation to generation. The story was told to young girls everywhere teaching them that their ULTIMATE HAPPINESS could only come with the arrival of the PERFECT PRINCE CHARMING. Never again were girls able to be themselves INDIVIDUALS successful. ……………………………………………………………………………………… except really, that’s not what happened. After hearing the story, Sophia became the VALEDICTORIAN of her class She went to HARVARD, full scholarship and never looked back. Olivia became an aerospace scientist; she launched a ROCKET into the sky Ava designed a vaccine that was the first of its kind. Emma achieved her dreams when she was finally with her husband, Azagba Decades later Madison MARRIED the love of her life too, but HER name was Isabella. See, the truth is fairy tales contain lessons, truths for society They’re not restrictive, repressive, they don’t make us blind. At worst, they’re simply a diversion, a break from reality. Any negative impacts they have, are simply abnormalities. Because when Cinderella went to the ball She wasn’t a heroine, looking to be rescued. Her story is the ultimate tale of good vs. evil And the triumph that ensues. Her story shows that we can make GOOD CHOICES when faced with tough circumstances And that friendship can be found when one chooses to look for it. When she was treated UNFAIRLY and UNKINDLY Instead of returning EVIL for EVIL She looked past the faults in others And treated them as people.. Now that’s a lesson that society today should appreciate Because now, instead of forgiving, we just hate Hate HATE When we think we’re wronged, we want only REVENVE We don’t care who feels it, as long as SOMEONE’S LIFE ENDS. We’re instantly happy with the news from CNN Telling us that this time it’s over The enemy has finally been avenged. First it was Hussein, then bin Laden But where are we now? We’re still in Pakistan . See, we can’t seem to .realize that a concept can never win That this “WAR ON TERROR” will never make amends. If society stopped shunning the truths in fairy tales Maybe, maybe THEN we’d be able to make the world well. Because see, Snow White, she was a beautiful princess She had a pure heart, and she had a sweet disposition. But when her enemies wanted her DEAD the reason she could succeed Was because instead of giving them HELL she prayed for their peace. The stepmother pursued her, she wanted TO KILL her Her heart was so sweet she became a martyr In the end, however, Snow White was revived Due to her strength, and the faith she ultimately lived by. So now, maybe what we should consider Is helping our enemies instead of making them more bitter. By giving them aid while they lay dying What we’re doing in the end is preventing them from striking. Now, I’m not saying what we need to do Is give to those who abuse their people too Quite the opposite, instead to prevent future enemies We must approach the civilians and fulfill their necessities. Right now our actions are causing the INNOCENT to DIE We want nuclear weapons gone, but do we really see the price? Our sanctions that WE put into place aren’t advancing our mission But they’re ending more lives than possible by nuclear fission. If only our society could see that instead of KILLING We need to start GIVING If we stopped shunning the truths in fairy tales Maybe then, maybe THEN we’ll make the world well. Because in fairy tales, they don’t treat FIRE WITH FIRE Instead of seeking revenge, putting LIVES ON THE WIRE They focused on LOVE <3 And Happily Ever Afters Now that’s not saying the morals entrenched are not true The stories teach courage, kindness, faithfulness too But from the most basic level, it’s easiest to see That in fairly tales, LOVE beats War And because of that people are free. So in today’s world instead of criticizing Jasmine for failing in love Sleeping Beauty for getting married The Little Mermaid for choosing one good life over another And Belle for putting compassion over everything else. Instead of saying THESE ACTIONS are ruining our SISTERS We need to LOOK at our own actions. LOOK AT THE BIGGER PICTURE. Because the truth is PRINCE CHARMINGS aren’t harming our nations HAPPILLY EVER AFTERS don’t give children nightmares But turning on the television and seeing the WARS and Pain and SUFFERING and guns That proves that the world will NEVER BE FAIR. So what we need to do Instead of CRITICIZING fairly tales Is look to them as guidance As an essence of good morals. In everything we do, as a nation and as individual We must look BACK towards these stories to help OUR WORLD HEAL.